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Fresh Expressions
revisited
Spanky Moore changes tack on new
modes of church

22

Writing on wall for
ecumenical education?
Brian Thomas faces the end of an era for
distance theology

28

St Mary’s Cathedral lays old ghosts to rest

34

Wanted: Soul friends
Young adults in search of
spiritual direction

36

Sacred Economics
Max Whitaker asks if there can be
redemption for money

38

Pigs before people?
Brian Thomas bristles over a
swine of a story

For the latest on the Anglican world, check out our website:

www.anglicantaonga.org.nz
Page 3

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

On May 11, in Taranaki’s Cathedral, Bishop Philip
Richardson will be commissioned as this Church’s
next Archbishop, and senior bishop of its seven
Pakeha dioceses.
Lloyd Ashton has been getting a measure of the man,
and finding out where his priorities lie.

A fortunate
Belinda and Philip at Lake Mangamahoe, by Rob Tucker

So those Taranaki music
lovers got together – and
everyone is a winner

Page 4

O

life

n the day the Tikanga
Pakeha bishops met in
Wellington to nominate
a new Archbishop –
Monday March 18 – the
country had been buffeted by the edges
of a tropical cyclone.
Philip Richardson’s flight home
that evening took twice as long as
normal, as the pilot flew as far north
as Raglan to dodge the worst of the
thunderstorms – talk about the Ides of
March – before heading south to a safe
landing in New Plymouth.

On the tarmac, Philip stopped to chat
with the pilot.
He flies with him often – and the
pilot’s wife, who’s a QC, sits on a trust
that Philip helped set up.
That trust came about because the
Taranaki Cathedral needed a director of
music. Trouble was, all it had to offer was
a quarter of a salary.
But Philip and Jamie Allen, the Dean of
the cathedral, hatched an idea.
They knew that Ars Nova, New
Plymouth’s leading community choir,
was also on the lookout for a director.

Anglican Taonga

Other groups needed that kind of
leadership, too.
So those Taranaki music lovers got
together, set up the Music Innovation Trust
of Taranaki – that’s the trust where the QC
sits – and by acting together, they’ve been
able to recruit a top young Tasmanian
music director.
Taranaki Cathedral now has a director
of music, those choirs have the leadership
they need, and everyone is a winner.
And right there, you can see a principle
that Philip Richardson wants to adopt as
archbishop: working together to achieve
the common good.

We need better data
Want another example of how building
relationships can strengthen the common
good?
Here’s one: The Bishop’s Action
Foundation, which Philip leads, is
convinced we need better data about rural
communities. How they’re coping with
changing government policy, for example,
changing circumstances in farming, and
population shifts.
So for the last four years, BAF has been
developing the framework for a Rural
Research and Development Centre.

EASTERTIDE 2013

The morning before we talked, Bishop
Philip and the BAF board had met with Dr
Jill Hopkinson, from the UK. She’s the Rural
Affairs Advisor for the Church of England –
and Philip believes the insights she delivered
to that board meeting could prove crucial.
There are a couple of points to note
about Jill Hopkinson’s visit.
Sure, BAF had brought her out here.
But her visit wasn’t just for Taranaki’s
benefit. She’d visited the Dioceses of
Christchurch and Dunedin, too.
For 14 years, Philip has bent his back in
serving the people of Taranaki. He’ll stay
planted there, too.
Page 5

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

The dust from the
teacher’s sandals…

The upshot? A rural R&D
centre which could
resource the church

B

ut the record also shows that he
has gone out of his way, over two
decades, to help shoulder the load
of the wider, provincial church.
The other thing to note is that Jill
Hopkinson’s visit had flowed directly from
Philip’s knack for building relationships.
The connections worked like this: The
Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, had
visited Taranaki in 2010 to consecrate St
Mary’s as a Cathedral, he and Philip struck
up a good relationship. Dr Sentamu had
said the C of E was struggling with the
same research gap in the UK – and he
linked BAF to Jill Hopkinson.
The upshot?
A Rural R&D Centre in New Zealand,
says Bishop Philip, is an “exciting prospect.
We think it could become a core resource
for the whole Church.”

We’re not a club
“The church,” says Philip, “really does
exist for those who are outside itself.
“We’re not a club. We are people who
are committed to building lifegiving, just
communities, where every individual can
live a full and meaningful life.
“The church is really committed to that.
We are committed to the common good.
“So a high priority for me is to enhance
our ability to work together as a church to
contribute to that common good.”
There’s not much doubt about the
contribution that Philip Richardson has
made to the wider community in Taranaki.
“I have the highest regard for him,”
says Harry Duynhoven, the Mayor of New
Plymouth.
“Philip has done a huge job for the
Anglican Church in our region – and for our
community as well.”
Peter Tennent, who was Harry
Duynhoven’s predecessor as Mayor, also
gives the thumbs-up to what the bishop has
achieved in his region:
Page 6

“He is a visionary, and a number
of projects, big and small, are directly
attributable to his leadership.”
The trick now for Philip, of course, is to
translate that kind of regional contribution
onto the national stage.
He’ll start by doing what’s already
worked on his patch.
“In Taranaki, we’ve worked hard to build
relationships across all sectors: political,
industrial, business, educational, local
government and the community sector.”
At a national level, he says the church
has already established “some credible
relationships across the political spectrum”
– and those relationships need to be
developed further.
“The second thing we need to do is
build credibility. Credibility is based on
what we do.
“We are not saved by good works.
“But what we do describes God’s love
and God’s grace. And people are looking
for a credible example, an outworking of
what Christian love in practice looks like.”
And the third requirement, he says, is
for the church to become engaged “at the
point of greatest need.
“We’ve always got to engage where we
can make the most difference – where there
is the greatest need.”
BAF’s research will equip the church to
hit those targets. But Philip says that’s not
the only source of data the church can tap.
“We’re on the ground in every
community,” he says, “in a way that few
other organizations are.
“Just look at any analysis of volunteer
or community work, and see how many of
the people serving their community have a
faith-base.
“We need to harness that info, that
insight – and bring that to bear on public
and government policy.”

Bishop Philip says that the church’s ability to
contribute to the life of the nation will depend,
above all, on “deepening its discipleship”.
“I love the image of the disciple being the
one who follows so closely in the footsteps
of the rabbi that the dust from the rabbi’s
sandals is flicked up over the disciple.
“Conforming ourselves day by day to
the way of Jesus and to the person of Jesus
is the hardest but most important challenge
Christians face – because I think that is
where our authenticity comes from, and
that is where our ability to speak into our
community comes from.”
“All of the other stuff that I talk about – our
engagement with the common good and
strengthening the local through how we
collaborate – is derived from that authentic
Christian life.”

Rangitoto boy
Philip Richardson is a cradle Anglican. He
was born in Devonport in 1958, the youngest
of Bill and Barbara Richardson’s three children,
and he went to Rangitoto College – where, in
his fifth form year, he met Belinda Holmes.
They became high school sweethearts,
they married in 1982 and “none of the
adventures of my life would have been
possible without her.”
Philip first felt the nudge to the priestly
life as a 14-year-old. He was accepted for
training while he was still at Rangitoto, and
on leaving school he took up a scholarship at
Otago University.
He graduated with a BA and B Theol,
but at just 21, he was still too young to be
ordained. So Bishop Paul Reeves steered him
towards Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary
in Madurai, South India, and the months he
spent there turned his world on its head.
“I had been thrown into a different world,
of course, and I struggled to comprehend the
poverty I encountered.”
“One day, for instance, a desperately
poor Hindu family in the neighbouring slum
invited me and two of my fellow students to
eat with them.
“We sat down to the meal – and I watched
as our hosts divided their food in half.
“In other words, the seven members of
their family ate half of their meagre food –
while we three young guests from the rich
world ate the other half. Their generosity just
about undid me.”
On the wall of the seminary hung a
painting which forever stays imprinted on
Philip’s mind.

It showed an old man resting on a
stick, with a small child looking up at him.
And the Tamil inscription reads: “Beware
of whom you look down upon – for God
reaches up to us from below.”
Philip was ordained a deacon in 1981, a
priest in 1982, and with two other St John’s
students he set up a community house in
the Mt Taylor housing estate in Glen Innes.
It was a community rich in spirit yet
beset by joblessness, by the health
problems that poverty brings – rickets was
common – and harassed by violence, by
overstayer raids and by gang recruiters.
“So: As I sought to make sense of a
God of love and a world of suffering, I was
shaped by those years in India and Mt
Taylor. I came to understand the brokenheartedness of God, and the hope that rests
in a God who suffers with the suffering.”

Staying put in the ‘Naki
In 1984, Bishop Paul Reeves plucked
Philip from Mt Taylor, and sent him to
Whangarei as an assistant priest.
He went from there to Dunedin in 1988
for further theological study, and he was
appointed warden of Selwyn College at the
University of Otago in 1992.
During his seven years at Selwyn he
became increasingly involved in serving
the wider Church, and in 1999, at the age of
40, he was elected as Bishop in Taranaki in
the Diocese of Waikato.
As Bishop, Philip has developed a
reputation for successful innovation.
He’s led the regionalisation of the way
ministry is delivered in Taranaki; launched
BAF “to tackle unmet needs” in the region
– it now has a $1 million annual budget
and a staff of nine – and he helped pioneer
dual episcopacy, whereby the Diocese of
Waikato and Taranaki (as it’s now called)

has two diocesan bishops.
Working that out with Archbishop
David Moxon has, he says, “been the most
fulfilling period of my life in ministry so far.”
Now that David Moxon is heading to
Rome, of course, there’s a need for a new
Bishop of Waikato.
It won’t be Philip. He’s staying put.
There are still things to do in Taranaki,
he reckons – “whereas Waikato has
an opportunity for a fresh approach in
leadership.
“I’ve shared 13 of those years with
David. So I don’t represent a new beginning
in Waikato.”
So what advice, then, does he have for
the next Bishop of Waikato?
“The heart of episcopacy for me, what
sustains and energises me, is just the
ordinary stuff of relationships.
“When I’m in a church now, I can name
most of the people in the congregation,
because those relationships have been
formed over time.
“They closed New Plymouth prison the
other day – and we went around the empty
prison at dawn, praying over every cell,
particularly those cells where someone
had taken their life.
“I knew the chaplains, of course, but
also the staff and the kaumatua who were
with us that morning. That was important
to me. Those relationships are important
to me.
“So my advice, then, is just take time in
the relationships.
“Love generously, and you will be
generously loved.
“That has been my experience. I am
topped-up, and my family is built-up, by
the care shown to us by the people who
are supposedly in my care.
“I am constantly touched by that.”

Taonga asked a number of church
and civic leaders, here and abroad,
for their thoughts as Archbishop Philip
begins his task.
First, the mihi of Archbishop Brown
Turei, Te Pihopa o Aotearoa:
Tena koe Bishop Phillip for accepting
the role of Archbishop. Congratulations.
Ko te tuatahi, te whakamoemiti ki
te Atua. He mihi hoki ki a koe, e te
rangatira, Bishop Philip. Tena koe e mau
nei i tenei turanga whakahirahira i roto
i te Haahi. Ko te tumanako, kia piripono
tatou ki a tatou i roto i tenei turanga hei
painga mo te katoa.
Ma te Atua koe e manaaki.
Our Three Tikanga Church and
it’s representation through three
Archbishops is a unique and wonderful
expression of our Christian unity. Unity
is not easy, it is often hard work, but as
Psalm 133 says, where there is unity
God commands a blessing.
Bishop Philip, I am really looking
forward to working alongside you
as a fellow Archbishop. Knowing the
great experience and leadership
qualities that are present throughout the
Tikanga Pakeha bench of Bishops, I am
impressed and encouraged that they
have placed their faith in you to be an
Archbishop for them, and for the whole
Three Tikanga Church.
Although you are different to
your predecessor, you retain some
of the crucial leadership qualities
that Archbishop Moxon possessed –
humility, a devout faith, a strong sense
of justice and compassion, and a real
and demonstrated love and respect for
Tikanga Maori and Tikanga Polynesia.
Most important is your love for the
Christ, who is the builder and head of
our Church. May that same Christ bless
and guide us all as we continue to share
his Gospel with the World.
More messages about Archbishop
Philip Richardson can be found at:
www.anglicantaonga.org.nz. They
include words from the Archbishop
of York, Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop
Winston Halapua, Beverley Lady Reeves,
and Catholic Archbishop John Dew.
Enter a search for: What they’re saying
about our new Archbishop.

Page 7

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

Cell block confession

T

here were no other prisoners in
earshot. Just this young guy, banged
up in New Plymouth Prison for
aggravated robbery.
No peer pressure, then. No need for the
young inmate to be staunch.
So he told Bishop Philip how it really
was with him. The stories of abuse – first
received, then dealt out – tumbled from him.
“I’m no better,” he told Bishop Philip,
“than the dirt that I walk on.’
That confession reinforced a conviction
that Philip had begun to form in 1992, when
he was appointed warden of Selwyn College,
which is a residential hall for students at
Otago University.
Selwyn had been at a very low ebb – with
a reputation for bullying, hard drinking and
violence towards women1.
“So it was about changing the culture,”
says Philip, “and we did some hard stuff.
There were some expulsions.”
But it wasn’t just a case of showing the
troublemakers who was boss.
“I was wrestling with the old idea,” says
Philip, “that you actually love people into
the Kingdom. You don’t beat them up into
the Kingdom.”
He tried to instil the notion that the health
of the whole Selwyn community was defined
by the experience of just one person – the
person who felt least like they belonged.
Who felt most alienated or marginalised.
“When we were dealing with bullying,
for instance, it was about helping those who
didn’t understand they were being bullies
to see the effect they were having on their
college mate.
“And asking whether they really wanted

to be defined by that person’s
misery.”
Nowadays, Bishop Philip
uses the same thermometer
to gauge the health of New
Zealand society as a whole.
You listen to its weakest,
most vulnerable, and most
marginalised citizens.
Even to its most despised.
They’re the ones who’ll tell
you whether New Zealand is as
good as it cracks itself up to be.
Selwyn taught Philip
another lesson, too.
It showed him where
wisdom is found.
In most cases, the Selwyn
students were idealists.
Youngsters yearning to make a
difference.
More often than not, Philip would get
caught up in dinnertime conversations about
meaning, as the students reflected on what
had happened in a lecture or lab.
As time went by, though, Philip saw the
educational system squeeze the idealism out
of those young folk.
“I had a friend who was a teacher in the
medical school. Instead of talking about the
pre-clinical and clinical phases of medical
education, he talked about the pre-cynical
and cynical aspects of medical education.”
Philip came to see that while the students
learned knowledge and information in their
lecture theatres and laboratories, that’s not
where idealism blossomed into wisdom.
They gained wisdom by being in
relationship with one another. By being in

March 2010, outside New Plymouth Prison

community.
“When you live cheek by jowl in a
residential college,” he says, “you learn
patience. You learn forgiveness – and you learn
to accept forgiveness. You learn toleration. You
learn to celebrate someone else’s gifts and to
have your own affirmed.
And if those lessons are there for young folk
to learn, says Bishop Philip, then they’re there
for the Body of Christ to learn, too.
Wisdom comes from being together. From
sticking together.

– Lloyd Ashton
1. Philip says the work of turning Selwyn around had been
begun by Rev Dr Graeme Redding, his predecessor as
warden. “He did a huge amount to confront the bad stuff."

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Page 8

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

Sink or swim

O

ne of the ironies of church life
post the three tikanga constitution
is that nowadays, there are fewer
Pakeha leaders who have been
immersed in the Maori world. Being a priest
in a Maori pastorate formed John Paterson
and George Connor, for instance, while David
Moxon has been shaped by his bi-cultural
marriage.
Philip Richardson hasn’t been immersed in
Te Ao Maori the way that generation was.
Nonetheless, he feels confident in dealing
with the other two tikanga.
That’s because he was tossed in at the
deep end soon after the new constitution was
enacted. And it was sink or swim.
“Those three bishops,” he says, “were
marinated in bi-cultural experience –
whereas I am marinated in constitutional
experience.”
In 1994 he was selected as the Tikanga
Pakeha Commissioner on the Commission on
Theological Education.
That commission identified principles for
theological education in the new three tikanga
world. Then, in 1996, he chaired the working
group that translated those principles into the
legislation that framed Te Kotahitanga – which
he also chaired for 10 years.
Archbishop Hui Vercoe and Bishop Jabez
Bryce both sat on that working group, and
they could be direct and uncompromising.
More than once they put Philip firmly in
his place.
But after the meetings, he says, they didn’t
stint in their care for him.
So Philip saw then that when it comes to
thrashing out tikanga relations, pussyfooting

helps nobody.
That lesson was reinforced in his years
chairing Te Kotahitanga. The financial stakes
were high, and TK was, he says, “the first
three tikanga body within this church where
you really had to figure out how to relate.
“You had to do that strongly, not back off,
and not forget your own constituency.
Philip says he’s also had more
opportunities to find his feet in Taranaki.
Taranaki iwi have been extremely
forbearing of him, he says, while also
challenging the church and its history.
“All that means,” he says, “that I have
a certain confidence in our Tikanga
relationships.
“I know the people involved very well.
I’m not worried about speaking directly.
And I’m not worried about getting it wrong.
Because if I do get it wrong, that will be
pointed out to me.”
He acknowledges too, that Tikanga Pakeha
is seen by many Maori as having had the
whip hand for too long, and still having the
lion’s share of resources.
“There is no doubt that we have had
the whip hand – no doubt at all – and
we will continue to have to work with the
consequences of that.
“But we won’t find just solutions by being
apologetic and reticent.
“We may well have to modify our position
once we have articulated it, and our tikanga
partners have challenged it – but that is what
relationship is about.
“We have to engage honestly and robustly,
be prepared to be challenged, and to
challenge back.”

Philip Richardson realises that, as
Archbishop, he will have a workload growing
even beyond what it is now.
He’ll not only be Bishop of Taranaki, but also
Primate and Senior Bishop of Tikanga Pakeha.
Keeping all those balls in the air at once
won’t be easy – and going into the IDC
election, there was concern that Tikanga
Pakeha is the ball most likely to get dropped.
Philip is determined not to do that. In fact,
he thinks he can help Tikanga Pakeha work
together better – and to gain a sense of identity.
That will emerge, he thinks, by the seven
dioceses talking straight to each other. His
task, he says, is to foster that kind of talk and
collaboration.
He has a hunch, too, that Pakeha “are
becoming more comfortable with a stronger,
more articulate tangata whenua.
“We are into a new stage of our
development of tikanga identity – and that may
mean that we find ourselves being slightly
more assertive and less apologetic for being
Pakeha."

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Page 9

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

DIALOGUE

Hui reveals momentum

for change

T

If we’re going to do
this, for heaven’s sake
let’s do the theology.

Page 10

here’s a growing momentum
towards blessings for samesex couples in church, and for
the ordination of folk in those
relationships.
That much became clear after the
fourth and final Hermeneutic Hui, held
at Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral on
February 1 and 2.
That’s not to predict what the Ma Whea
Commission will bring to next year’s
General Synod – their report will describe
pathways, but it will not recommend a way
forward. Nor is it to guess what General
Synod will make of their report.
But among the 50 or so folk who
gathered for the final Hermeneutic
Hui were many of the decision-makers
within the province – and there was
no mistaking where most of these are
heading on this issue.

During the final session Bishop Richard
Ellena of Nelson – representing the
evangelically orthodox – acknowledged
“the groundswell of support” within the
gathering for the blessing and ordination of
people in same-sex relationships.
Indeed, the hui took some steps that
seem to be anchored on the assumption
that change is coming.
Several speakers floated the idea of
a theological hui on marriage, although
the standing committee – which met in
Auckland a few days later – opted instead
to set up a doctrinal commission to explore
the subject (see sidebar).
That commission is a response to the
plea from several speakers, most notably
Bishop Victoria Matthews, for serious work
to begin on the theology of marriage.
“If we’re going to do this,” she said, “for
heaven’s sake let’s do the theology.”

Anglican Taonga

Secondly, there were also serious suggestions for
developing what Archbishop David Moxon called
“provisional pastoral structures for the future… to
provide space for people within the church as a whole
– whatever decision is made.”

A theological tikanga?
At the close of the hui, Bishop Richard Ellena was
asked to give a short paper on the topic:
How we might be together as church with different
understandings of Scripture.
He argued there that in terms of ecclesiology
“unity in diversity” seemed to be the church’s
“primary value”.
But that masked a deeper problem, he said.
“What we face today within our church”, he
claimed, “is not just a broad diversity… (but) a
disunity that has grown out of our ability to find
common ground biblically, theologically upon
which we can discuss and debate these
presenting issues.”
He guessed that the General Synod could now
turn in one of three ways:
It could go with the “groundswell of support”
evident at the hui.
But if it did so, he said, he would find himself “in
a very difficult position”. He would identify with
those who can no longer affirm their allegiance to
General Synod “because of what we understand
to be a total rejection of the authority of scripture
in determining the life and the practise of the
church.”
“Secondly, it could take the opposite action…
and thus alienate those who passionately believe
this to be an issue of justice.
“Or thirdly, General Synod could explore
a way ahead that would enable individuals,
parishes and dioceses to become some kind
of theological ‘tikanga’… within which their
commitment to the authority of scripture…
is recognised and respected.
“We’ve done this in 1992 and we are still
united. The sky hasn’t fallen in – to the contrary,
we are stronger because we made this
courageous decision.
“Maybe it’s time for an equally courageous
move?”

The Pacifist analogy
Bishop Jim White, representing the prochange end of the debate, was also asked
to speak on the how we might be together
question.
He argued that an “alternative Episcopal
oversight” model wasn’t needed – and that
the church could just choose to be united.
“We would simply decide that we are
together and that we want to stay together.

EASTERTIDE 2013

Doctrine Commission to
explore same-sex blessings

A

doctrinal commission will
look into the theological
rationale for the blessing
of people in permanent, faithful
same-gender relationships.
This “Commission on Doctrine
and Theological Questions”, which
has been called at the instruction
of the Standing Committee of
General Synod, flows directly
from the fourth and final
Hermeneutic Hui.
The Commission will also look
at the question of the ordination
of people in same gender
relationships.
But there’s a feeling now,
expressed several times during
the course of the hui, that the
ordination question will sort itself
out – if and when the blessings
question is settled.
In other words, if the church
arrives at a point where it feels
that it’s OK to bless the unions
of same sex couples – then the
possibility of ordaining people
in those relationships has
automatically arisen.
At the standing committee’s
request, the standing committees
of each of the three tikanga have
been asked to appoint three
members to the new Commission.
Those chosen for the task are:
Tikanga Pakeha
Rev Dr Andrew Burgess
(Bishopdale College, Nelson)
Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley
(St John’s College, Auckland)
Bishop Jim White
(Assistant Bishop, Diocese of
Auckland)

Tikanga Pasefika
Rev Sione Uluilakepa
(St Andrews School, Tonga)
Two further to be confirmed.
Several speakers at the
hermeneutic hui had floated the
idea of a theological hui
on marriage.
But the Ma Whea Commission
will need to be briefed on all
the doctrinal questions before it
begins to construct its report to
next year’s General Synod – and
the General Synod Standing
Committee felt that convening
a tightly-focused team of
theologians was a better way to
meet that deadline.
*

*

*

*

*

To another, related development:
Immediately after the
Hermeneutic Hui, the Ma Whea
Commission asked the Church
Reference Group to collate and
summarize the key theological
positions in the papers presented
at the four hermeneutic hui.
The reference group appointed
three of its members – The Rev Dr
Sue Patterson, The Rev Dr Lynda
Patterson, and Karen Spoelstra –
to undertake that task.
They will seek to answer four
questions:
1. What is the theological
common ground?
(between the liberal and
conservative positions).
2. What are the theological
differences?

Tikanga Maori

3. Where might there be
potential for reconciliation?

Rt Rev Te Kitohi Pikaahu
(Pihopa o Te Tai Tokerau)

4. Where will be the areas of
ongoing disagreement?

Dr Moeawa Callaghan
(St John’s College, Auckland)

The Patterson/Spoelstra group
has undertaken to supply
its précis to the Ma Whea
Commission by June 1.

Rev Tom Poata
(Vicar, St Faith’s Ohinemutu)

Page 11

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

…hermeneutics had
failed to help the church
to reach consensus.

We would hold that bonds of affection are
such that we can and will ‘hang-in together.’
He said that hermeneutics had failed to
help the church to reach consensus.
But if Anglicans turned their attention
to how they manage their disagreements

over another life-and-death matter
they might gain a fresh perspective, he
suggested.
“We know,” said Bishop Jim, that “a good
number of Anglicans are Pacifists. They
claim that Jesus lived a life of non-violence
and cite many scriptural warrants for their
view that Christians should be committed
to such a lifestyle.
“Yet other Christians, myself included,
claim there can be a ‘just war’ and that
Christians can faithfully use lethal force
against other human beings under certain
conditions.
“How is it that Christians, or Anglicans
for that matter, can be together given the
disagreement about such a substantive
matter?
That had happened, he suggested,
because “we have decided to journey on

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Page 12

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with one another in spite of this very deep
and passionately held difference” over
going to war.
Likewise, he argued, the time has come
for Anglicans “to take a more permissive
stance on praxis,” where the same-sex
issues are concerned.
Doing so would not end the debate. It
would simply allow some places (perhaps
at a diocesan level, perhaps at a parish
level) “to proceed in the way that they have
discerned.”
Bishop Jim argued that reaching for
“alternative episcopal oversight” wasn’t
necessary.
Disagreeing with your vicar on the
same-sex questions “is akin to not agreeing
with your vicar on pacifism, or abortion,
or euthanasia (all life-and-death issues), or
any number of other issues...

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

Are we worth the risk?
Associate-Professor Peter Lineham is an historian who
teaches at Massey University at Auckland. He specialises
in New Zealand religious history, and he is a sought-after
commentator on church affairs. Peter Lineham also helped
organise the hermeneutics hui and Taonga asked him for his assessment of
the last of these.

B

efore the event, I wondered if
the latest hui was going to be
worth it.

After all, as James Harding said, we
have done three of these, and have
any of us changed as a result?

“We would expect the vicar to be
gracious and loving towards us, to care for
our well being, and respect our faithfully
discerned view.
“We might argue some, but we wouldn’t
cause each other to stumble.
“In another fifty years we may well be
closer to the truth on this matter. In the
meantime, we would hold that bonds of
affection are such that we can and will
journey on together.”

'Best of all hui'
In Archbishop David Moxon’s mind this
gathering “was the best of all the hui.”
Where the first, in 2007, was racked by
tension, there was an irenic spirit about
the final hui, and a willingness, despite
differences, to be together in worship.
Indeed, at the end, Bishop Ellena paid
tribute to Archbishop David, who had
dreamt up the hermeneutic hui concept.
Archbishop David identified three
principles to emerge from the final hui: that
discipleship is the key to Christian life, that
“unity has already been given to us in our
baptism” and that therefore “we need to
find ways of travelling together.”
But there was a feeling too, that the focus
on exegesis and hermeneutics had passed
its use-by date.
“Our problems around sexuality,” said
the Rev Dr James Harding, “will not be
solved by a more thorough exegesis of the
relevant Biblical texts.
“We need it – but we don’t need much
more of it.”

Well, no miraculous transformation
took place by the end of this hui
either.
But for those of us who are gay, the
hui have been like coming out in the
church, finding our voices, and also
learning what we have to contribute.
On the other hand, events such as
these hui can seem to make the
current situation, with its moratorium
on ordinations, even more frustrating.
We seem to be such a problem, and
we wondered if it was time to walk
the plank!
In some respects, the issues and the
temperature have been upped this
year by the Marriage Definition Bill
and the hope that change cannot be
delayed forever.
So it was most interesting to find that
none of the speakers at this hui were
hostile to gay aspirations. All were at
least respectful. There was a sense
that some heat had drained out of
the debate.
For me, the plenary sessions on
the first day were full of passion
and interest but did not break new
ground.
The small groups immersed us in
our differences. When you say that
you are gay in a small group, some
very unusual questions may emerge.
I certainly faced some, but I can
understand that they wanted to know
if we gay people were worth the risk.

In New Zealand the debate has
largely focused on whether priests
in same-sex relationships could be
ordained – and so that particular
question didn’t concern me much.
But in the small groups I realised that
we have this debate out of sequence.
Because if the church is not willing to
bless my relationship, then how can it
ordain people in such relationships?
So the blessing question has become
the priority for me.
And that small group epiphany
prepared me for the second day,
which was a good one.
The Ma Whea Commission was
present, and even though I abhor the
logic of a church calling on a neutral
commission to help it, the dedication
of the Commission was remarkable.
Bishop Victoria’s talk on marriage
was highly interesting, because
it explored an understanding of
marriage as non-sacramental and
therefore more easily capable of
redefinition.
The hui finished with presentations
by Bishops Richard Ellena and
Bishop Jim White, both of whom I
highly respect for their faith and
their conscience. Their wrestling
with the issues brought us face to
face with the risks of schism and
ways to avoid that.
For me the Hui have cemented
friendships, developed a sense of
fellowship in the midst of difference
and helped me sense an evolving
Anglicanism. I am more hopeful.

Peter Lineham.

But it was during the small group
meetings that I realised I had
changed my sense of priority.

Page 13

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

…in the process, we are
taking Scripture with us
into the abyss.

Six presentations
On the first day, the hui heard six papers
on Scripture and the theology of sexuality.
The presenters were: the Rev Drs HelenAnn Hartley and Frank Smith (from St
John’s College); the Rev Drs Sue Patterson
and James Harding (respectively, from
Bishopdale Theological College in Nelson;
and the University of Otago) the Rev Don
Tamihere, from the Taapapa ki te Tairawhiti,
and the Rev Canon Dr Tim Meadowcroft,
from Laidlaw College in Auckland.
From the outset, Helen-Ann Hartley
pointed towards an obsession with
equating identity with sexuality, and
sexuality with sexual practice.

Whereas Scripture, she said, points
towards vocation and discipleship, and our
identity “in Christ.”
Dr Harding honed in on the matter of
discipleship.
He maintained that the church cannot
solve its troubles over sexuality “because
we are beginning from the wrong place…
and in the process we are taking Scripture
with us into the abyss.”
The problems around sexuality,
he claimed, “are secondary to our
fundamental calling as the royal priesthood
of God, called out of darkness into His
marvellous light. What that does not mean
is that anything goes, and that is where our
desperately difficult task of discernment
lies…
“So let’s focus on God. Let’s focus on the
question of discipleship.
“(Because) the ethical vision of the
gospels centres around discipleship – not
around male-female marriage…
“The real problem in society is making
opposite-sex marriage the sum of
Christian moral life.
“It’s not.
“The summit of Christian moral life is
a life lived for the sake of the Kingdom of
Heaven.”

Paper on marriage
Saturday’s session began with Bishop
Victoria delivering, at Archbishop David’s
request, a major paper on marriage.
She began by looking at what the Bible
says on the subject.
“The first thing that needs to be said is
that the gospels are not obsessed about
sexual relations.
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt there
is more New Testament teaching about

discipleship than about marriage.
“Matthew’s gospel clearly says the
Kingdom of Heaven is without marriage.
Indeed, if we think of Luke 14:26 there is the
admonition to hate family members in order
to put Christ before all others."
“We should not be surprised by this,”
she said, “as the baptism of Jesus re-defined
the family. But it is interesting how easily
we forget that the gospel is Christocentric,
and more concerned about the making of
disciples than who is allowed to marry…”
She reflected on the Matthew 19

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discussion about those who have become
“eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom.”
“I suggest that what is happening in the
gospels is a relaxation of the requirement
to have children. There is no longer the
necessity to keep the seed of Israel both
abundant and pure.
“It is possible, I believe, to argue that a
blessed union of man and woman or really
any two or more people is able to bear fruit
in a number of different ways.
“They are able to bear the fruit of good
works and acts of mercy as many religious
orders have done for centuries. There is also
the New Testament calling to have spiritual
children for the sake of the Kingdom.”
She reflected too, on the “extraordinary
passage” in John 3 about Nicodemus
visiting Jesus by night – and being told
that no-one can see the Kingdom of God
“without being born from above”. Born a
second time, born by the Spirit.
“What if Jesus is really saying that in the
world since the Incarnation, with the world
made flesh, since Immanuel, the new focus
is on having spiritual children?
“The new teaching is to keep the
kingdom populated with Jesus’ new family,
those who do God’s will.”
She finished by asking whether the
church is being called “to re-imagine
marriage.”
“So that one community of faithful
Christian disciples, who have suffered
greatly, could be reminded more fully of
God’s love for them? Like the woman at the
well, is it time to lift the shame?”

Commission's progress
The Ma Whea Commission attended the
Saturday session of the hui – and Sir Anand
Satyanand spelled out the Commission’s
progress.
The Commission had met for a day
every five or six weeks. It had examined
the legal structure within which it worked.
The Commission had held open days
– and it had decided to be “moderately proactive” by seeking opinions from Tikanga
Maori and Tikanga Polynesia.
“We want to satisfy ourselves,” said Sir
Anand, “that we have engaged with a range
of views before we begin to develop a
structure in which we formulate our report.”
The closing date for submissions to the
Ma Whea Commission is June 1.

By Lloyd Ashton

EASTERTIDE 2013

“No convincing
argument advanced…”
The Rev Dr Peter Carrell is a well-known commentator on
conservative evangelical causes within the Anglican Church in
these islands.
He is both the Director of Education and Director of Theology
House
in
the
Diocese of Christchurch, and his blog, Anglican Down Under
progress.
is widely read.
Thehttp://anglicandownunder.blogspot.co.nz/
commission had met for a day
every Peter
five orhas
six been
weeks.on
It the
had organising
examined team for all four hui – and Taonga asked him
the legal structure within which it worked,
for his assessment of how much they have shaped his thinking.
and had been guided by one of its
members, Professor Paul Trebilco, on the
conserving the church’s traditional
fourth
moved
from theit
theological his
aspects
of hui
the 36
submissions
teaching on marriage and sexuality,
text
of
the
Bible
to
the
theological
had received.
but diversified on how we respond to
implications
of
the
text.
The commission had held open days –
liberalizing change.
and itFor
hadinstance,
decided to
be
“moderately
proa paper given by Bishop
active”
by
seeking
opinions
from
Tikanga
I think we remain a church where,
Victoria on biblical theologies of
Maorimarriage
and Tikanga
Polynesia.
depending on decisions made
opened
up a number of
“We
want to satisfy
ourselves,
” said
in the future, we could see some
significant
questions
about
what the
Sir Anand,
we have
engaged
with a
conservatives leave, some remain
Bible“that
is saying
about
marriage.
range of views before we begin to develop
providing there are new episcopal
Has anyone changed their minds
a structure in which we formulate our
arrangements, and some remain
because of the hermeneutical hui?
report.”
whatever happens.
I can
onlydate
speak
for myself. to the
The
closing
for submissions
Conservatives have not shifted ground
Ma Whea
June
1. has changed
I do Commission
not find that is
my
mind
on commitment to live under the
on the central question of whether
authority of the Bible as the supreme
the church may bless same-sex
guide for our faith and practice.
partnerships. No convincing argument
On this point conservatives are widely
has been advanced at any of the hui
misunderstood – which may be our
that the church can declare with divine
fault for not explaining our position.
authority that such partnerships are
We are viewed unfavourably for not
blessed by God.
swinging with the mood for blessing
Where the hui have influenced my
of same sex partnerships, let alone for
mind to change is on three matters:
gay marriage.
First, the central question is not going
We are not against gay people, but we
to go away from our church anytime
seek God’s guidance from the Bible on
soon. I used to think that if the biblical
how we live.
argument was comprehensively
We want to find the right way ahead
thrashed out the matter would be
to be God’s church in these islands,
settled.
to include all Christians in our
Secondly, we are a church engaged
congregations, and to care for everyone
with reading the Bible carefully. I used
who seeks pastoral support from
to think that the push for a positive
the church. Thus, we have points of
answer to these questions involved
agreement with those we disagree with.
setting the Bible to one side.
Is there a way forward towards more
Thirdly, we are able to converse freely
common ground?
across our differences. I used to think
A theology of friendship might be
that we could only converse with
that way.
agonising tension between us.
But we have not yet explored that in
Have conservatives shifted ground?
a hui.
That’s a hard question to answer,
because conservatives are united in
Peter Carrell

T

Page 15

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

‘Go to your

knees often’

…to persevere or
not, to love or not.
These are the
ultimate biblical
choices…

Page 16

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

Go to your knees often, consult widely, and get smart via the latest information technology…
That was Archbishop David Moxon’s advice to his successor as he took leave of Waikato to begin a
new job in Rome this month.
Archbishop David is now the Anglican Communion’s chief representative to the Roman Catholic
Church, and also Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
It’s a far cry from Hamilton, his Episcopal home for close on 20 years.
But while he’s excited by the potential of a global ministry, Archbishop David also knows that it’s the Church of
Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia that has shaped and equipped him for such a far-reaching task.
Taonga’s online editor, Brian Thomas, put the following questions to the departing Archbishop to find out
precisely what drives him on the road to Rome.

Y

ou describe yourself as
“Reformed Catholic.”
How will that go down
in Rome?

In Rome I will describe myself as an
Anglican. But I would also say that this
means being part of one holy, catholic
and apostolic church, which for Anglicans
comes originally from the ancient church of
the English-speaking peoples. This church
joined the Roman Catholic Church at the
Council of Whitby but separated off with
the Reformation. So for this reason we are
catholic and reformed.

How would you define “Reformed
Catholic” as opposed to
“Evangelical”?
This means keeping the heritage
of the early church and its roots while
recognizing that this heritage always needs
to be reviewed in prayer and Bible study
and robust dialogue in every generation,
to be faithful to mission in our day. Being
evangelical is a crucial part of being
Christian at any time.

The aim of the Anglican Centre in
Rome is to “promote Christian unity
in a divided world.” How do you
intend to further that aim?
By pointing to and enabling examples
of co-operation in mission, especially in
Christian justice and development work.
We don't agree on some significant
things, but we can labour together for the
kingdom where the needs are greatest in
God’s world.

You have piloted this church through

some choppy waters, not least of all
the hermeneutical debate on samesex blessings. What's your view of
the way the church is processing
this issue?
I think we are being careful to use
biblical principles of consultation, prayer,
and Bible study over time: listening deeply
to each other, and to those most affected by
the churches’ response.
We will need to pray our way through
what choices General Synod faces well
beforehand, so that when the next synod
meets we will be ready to respond with
maturity and care for everyone involved.
We will be describing our unity in our
diversity in special ways. We ought to be
capable of this without breaking up.

You have the happy knack of staying
calm through torrid debates, even
when you’re chairing them.
What’s your secret?
It's no secret. Just pray before, during
and after the debate. Remember that the
church has always struggled at times,
but that it is Christ’s Body on earth and is
ultimately a communion of Christ-like love,
even if it is a tough kind of love occasionally.

Which form of prayer works best
for you?
I use Ignatian forms of prayer a lot. I
often go to the Sacred Space website run
by the Irish Jesuits. I also use the Jesus
prayer and breathe the words.

Some Anglicans believe our threetikanga constitution is biblically
flawed because it divides the church

along ethnic lines. Do you think the
structure has lived up to its promise
across the church?
I think our three-tikanga church is a
taonga that has offered us a unique and
rich experience of Christ in cultural
diversity. It is also just and free in spirit for
different indigenous communities.
Whenever we experience tensions in
this arrangement or disappoint each other,
which we do from time to time, it is good to
remember that human beings and human
cultures are not always allies capable
of these things, whatever the structural
arrangements.
In the end we have to choose to work
in the relationships or not, to persevere or
not, to love or not. These are the ultimate
biblical choices at any time with anyone.

As Archbishop you’ve often played
a balancing role in the struggle
between liberals and conservatives.
Is schism still a possibility for this
church, or do you believe we’ll stick
together regardless?
Schism is always a possibility where
human beings are organized in large and
diverse networks. However, I don’t think it
is likely in this church because of the ability
and spirituality of the key people involved.
There is a Kiwi Christian way of trying to
provide a fair go for everyone, because
we live with only one or two degrees of
separation in these islands. Maybe we can
show the world what unity in diversity can
look like, through our common grounding
in Christ. There is no other ground of our
being in the end. This is where we can
stand together.

Page 17

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

PEOPLE

Formal liturgy has always been a
staple of Anglican worship. And
yet many of our most successful
parishes – St Paul’s, Symonds Street,
for example – are much less formal.
Is that the way to go for growth,
especially among the young?
I have seen some great examples
of youth folk liturgy and music where
informality combines with sound liturgical
shaping, without being stodgy or boring.
One without the other will be inadequate in
the long run.

David Moxon’s
’arthouse’

A

rchbishop David will live on top
of a treasure trove of art in Rome.
The Anglican Centre occupies
a suite on the second storey of the
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, a privately
owned palace housing several galleries
of Old Masters, a Baroque corridor of
mirrors – and the mummified corpse of
the family saint.
Anglicans reside there through the
generosity of four princely Roman
families who have inter-married under
the surname of Doria Pamphilj.
The Anglican Centre itself comprises
a tall library and seminar room, a
simple chapel and a salone where up
to two dozen gather every Tuesday
lunchtime for a Eucharist, a bowl of
pasta and a chat.
The Centre was founded only in
1966 – by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop
Michael Ramsey – to inaugurate “serious
dialogue” between the Roman Catholic
Church and the Anglican Communion.
As well as fostering unity between
the two churches, it offers educational
courses and advice for Anglican visitors
from all over the Communion. But it’s the
potential for shared mission that excites
Archbishop David about his new post.
“Our two churches are on the verge of
new opportunities for joint mission,” he
says, “especially in Christian aid, justice
advocacy and development. I’m also
convinced there are new opportunities
to learn from each other.”
The Vatican is just a stroll away from
the Anglican Centre.

Page 18

How do you think the Anglican
Church will hold up in the
current Census?
There will be a decline in our
proportional place owing to immigration of
Catholics and the rise of agnostics.

What have been the high points of
your term as Archbishop?
• The ordination of bishops.
• The stand for the reform of the Crimes
Act which saw this church as one of the
only ones to support the abolition of
bruise-causing striking of children.
• The combined approach of church
leaders to Parliament on issues such as
crime and punishment, social housing,
benefit levels and poverty.
• The hermeneutics hui series.
• The Bible in the Life of the Church project.
• The hosting of the Anglican Consultative
Council.
• The defence of prayer in schools
nationally.
• The courage and creativity of the Bishop
and Diocese of Christchurch following
the earthquakes.
• The primates’ conference in Alexandria,
Egypt.
• The challenge of alcohol reform.
• The partnership between the primates.

And the low points?
The pain around the Te Aute debate at
the last General Synod.

Apart from the Bible, which books
have been most helpful to your
ministry?

Poet and Peasant by Ken Bailey
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
Falling Upwards by Richard Rohr
A Theology of Hope by Jurgen Moltmann
Most of Walter Brueggemann’s work

Which films or DVDs have you most
enjoyed over the past 10 years?
A Good Year
Brother Sun Sister Moon
Molokai
The Mission
The Vicar of Dibley

You’ve held together two punishing
jobs – Archbishop and Diocesan
Bishop – for seven years. Has there
been a personal cost?
Yes. To my family and sense of peace
at times.

So how do you relax after a hard day?
I go to the Sacred Space site and pray
there, I might have a long hot bath, read a
good book, jog and exercise.

Finally, what advice do you have for
your successor?
Go to your knees often, consult widely,
use as much information technology as you
can to be working smarter. Get regular
high-quality supervision and spiritual
direction. Don't be afraid, but trust in God.
Rev Brian Thomas edits Taonga online:
www.anglicantaonga.org.nz
bjthomas@orcon.net.nz

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

Waikato lawyer and former university chancellor Gerald Bailey
has worked closely with Bishop David Moxon for 15 years.
He shares his view of the man.

here was something very different
about this month’s Waikato and
Taranaki Diocesan Synod.
It wasn’t just that we’d been
brought there by a resignation, or that we
only had one item of business, but simply,
that Archbishop David Moxon wasn’t
presiding anymore.
Since 1993, when David Moxon was
consecrated sixth Bishop of Waikato,
we’ve been privileged to be led by a very
special man.
David was our sole bishop for his first six
years – a mode he recalls as “episcopacy
by car seat”. Then, when the South Taranaki
parishes moved to our diocese from the
Diocese of Wellington, we were joined
by Bishop Philip Richardson. That began
a ministry partnership which led to the
world’s first ‘shared episcopacy’.
Even with Philip there, Bishop David has
still spent hours on the road. Not being one
to take the time out, he’ll usually multitask those journeys via hands-free phone,
completing several important conversations
on the way.
I’ve often admired – and marvelled
at – David’s ability to refocus very
quickly between meetings. He seems to
immediately hit on the right approach
and never fails to give his full attention.
Bishops don’t usually face trivia, but even

so, David treats every issue as a matter of
importance. He never refuses requests for
an urgent audience if he can squeeze any
more into his crowded schedule. You’d be
greeted with a warm smile, a reassurance
that it really wasn’t a bother – and a
satisfactory outcome would invariably follow.
David is, first and foremost, a pastor.
He has a deep understanding of human
nature, he sees the good in others and can
always find a kind word. When it comes to
handling disputes, his natural instinct is to
reconcile. He’s a peacemaker.
Another quality to David Moxon is
his sense of humour. He often defuses
difficult situations by a well-chosen (though
sometimes excruciating) pun, or other
comic remark. But while David is sharp
and quick-witted, he doesn’t use it in
a destructive way. Instead, his humour
creates a positive environment and helps
decisions to get made.
To thank David for all he has done for
our diocese seems inadequate.
He’s left a truly indelible impression on
so many people.
God has been good in sharing these 20
years of David’s life with us.
Gerald Bailey is a lay canon, Vicar's Warden at St
Aidan's, Claudelands and is a member of General Synod
Standing Committee.

Spiritual Growth Ministries Trust

Spiritual Directors’
Formation
Programme
2014-2015

Are you interested in helping people grow in
their relationship with God? Do you already
have people approaching you to talk about
their spiritual life?
Our well regarded and comprehensive, 2 year
part-time course will inspire and form you as
an effective spiritual director. The programme
involves a blend of:
Engaging in study of the theology and
practices of Christian Spiritual Direction
Deepening personal spiritual formation
Regular workshops conducted by
experienced practitioners
Supervised spiritual direction practice
Overseas participants complete most of the
programme by distance but must attend the
one-week residential training component in
the first year.
For details contact our Coordinator:
Barbara McMillan: sgmtp@xtra.co.nz
Or visit our website: www.sgm.org.nz
Expressions of interest are welcome.
Applications due by 20th SEPTEMBER 2013
Late applications may be considered.

Page 19

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

MISSION

Back from Britain's
fresh frontier
Spanky Moore returns
from his UK study leave
with a whole new take
on Fresh Expressions.

I found the energy and
seriousness towards the
challenge a wake-up call.

Page 20

I

n September last year my wife and I
boarded a plane to fly to England.
And I didn’t really want to go.
You see, in 2006 I’d been involved in
planting one of New Zealand’s few examples
of a self-proclaimed Fresh Expression of
church called ‘The Kitchen’.
It was a challenging, stretching
experience, but after three years it came to
a natural end, and I guess I felt a bit burnt by
the whole thing.
Soon after that Bishop Graham Cray, who
leads the UK Fresh Expressions team, came
to New Zealand to run a conference. Next
thing I knew I was booked to go and study
alongside his team in the UK and the Pioneer
Training Course at Ridley Hall in Cambridge.
However, since The Kitchen had finished
up, I’d now been ordained and domesticated
– gradually my thinking and theology had
become very sensible.
I’d realised that planting Fresh
Expressions was too hard, too risky and
painful, and supporting local parish ministry

became my new focus.
So while I was grateful for the opportunity
to travel abroad and study at my tender age,
the mandate I had for the study was a bit like
a teenager being given a Wiggles DVD by a
long lost uncle.
It was a nice idea, but I’d moved on. But as
is often the way, the Spirit had different plans
for me.
First things first.
For those new to this conversation, what
exactly is a Fresh Expression?
The official definition goes:
‘A fresh expression is a form of church for
our changing culture established primarily
for the benefit of people who are not yet
members of any church.
It will come into being through principles
of listening, service, incarnational mission and
making disciples; and it will have the potential
to become a mature expression of church
shaped by the Gospel and the enduring
marks of the church and for its cultural context.’
It comes from the assumption that God’s

Anglican Taonga

FX back home: 2013 Festival of Salt and Light.
Photos Claudia Wood.

Spirit is constantly at work in the world,
or in Rowan Williams’ words, "mission is
about finding out what God is doing and
joining in."
As the church discovers fewer people
connecting with our inherited forms of
worship, we move beyond our sacred
spaces to see what God’s Spirit is up to in
unexpected places.
We begin by going out and listening,
then serving whoever God has called us to,
we gradually start making new disciples,
and then, we see what faith community
emerges from these new followers of Jesus.
Now I know what you’re thinking: It
sounds like a great idea in theory, but
surely it can’t work. Well, as I quickly
discovered, it does work. And it is working.
And it’s nothing new. Actually, it’s how the
church has always done things.
Upon arriving in England I found myself
amongst a diverse community of people
of all ages and traditions, wrestling deeply
with the challenges our church faces in the
twenty-first century.
It’s the same conundrum we face here
in Aotearoa New Zealand; What shape
does God’s mission and Jesus’ gospel call
the church to be in a consumer-driven,
multi-cultural, highly networked, postChristendom world?
Then there’s that old humbug issue of
decline.
While I was visiting, the Church of
England had just released statistics showing
that if current trends continue, CofE Sunday
service attendance would drop from a
current 1.2 million in England each week, to
a mere 120,000 in 40 years’ time.
Many UK Anglicans think time is running
out, and that by only doing what they’ve
always done, they’re sealing their fate,

alongside the Brontosaurus and the Fax
Machine.
I found the energy and seriousness
towards the challenge a wake-up call.
I met researchers who were crunching
social trends and the most effective ways of
planting Fresh Expressions of church.
Theological institutions were arguing
over the best way to train and form church
leaders to be ready for the mission
contexts that the church now faces.
Dioceses were employing Fresh
Expressions motivators and church
planters in housing estates, high schools,
retirement homes and skate parks.
I heard countless stories from pioneer
ministers sharing tales of God’s Spirit
being at work in unexpected places
amongst unexpected people.
People who’d never even been inside
a church building, were becoming
passionate followers of Jesus.
I heard Rowan Williams (in one of
his last addresses as the Archbishop of
Canterbury) speak to a room of over
200 FX pioneers, about his excitement at
seeing Fresh Expressions flourish.
He spoke of the need for Anglicans to
be open to the new ways God’s Spirit is
calling us to be church.
I heard of parishes embracing a ‘mixed
economy’ of ministry, and working side
by side with Fresh Expression initiatives in
creative ways.
I then saw the latest research figures
in the Diocese of Liverpool; 78 Fresh
Expressions were analysed, and 2,885
people were counted as being involved
in a Fresh Expression, from 571 who
originally planted these churches.
That’s an impressive four-fold return on
church planters.
Fresh Expressions made up 10% of
weekly church attendance in the diocese
too. Not bad for a new kid on the block, I
thought.
It was at that point that God suddenly
turned my apprehensions and nervous
cynicism over Fresh Expressions on its
head.
I realised how deeply I desired our own
church in New Zealand to be as passionate
about seeing the good news of Jesus have
its way in the world, no matter the cost to
our denominational identity markers.
I grasped how badly we needed this
wind of change in our own province.
So I swapped email addresses with the
plethora of English ordinands who kept
pestering me about putting in a good word

EASTERTIDE 2013

I grasped how badly
we needed this wind
of change in our
own province.

for them in New Zealand, jumped on my
homebound 737, and returned to the land of
the long white cloud.
On returning, I’m left wondering, where
to from here for this part of the world? I’ve
heard a number of Anglican big wigs
write off Fresh Expressions as being little
more than an excuse to drink a cappuccino
with some mates in a café, or just being a UK
phenomenon that won’t work here.
But as a 30-something clergyperson, I
realise that many of the people who are
most skeptical of Fresh Expressions in
the life of our church won’t have to lead it
through the worst of the logical implications
of our decline.
I will.
And our lack of honesty around that
challenge makes me nervous.
Because if we don’t embrace Fresh
Expressions, what’s the plan?
I’ve seen firsthand the power it has to
bring the good news of Jesus to people who
would never darken the door of a church, or
thumb the pages of a prayer book.
The way it can ignite new passion in our
young leaders for ministry. It’s not some
silver bullet saviour either, because it takes
patience, risk and hard work.
Fresh Expressions is really just a sexy
name for contextual mission. The church has
been doing it for centuries.
So why are we so hesitant to take up the
challenge now?
Do we need to hear afresh Jesus’ missional
call in Luke 10 - to go without our bag or
sandals, and to follow the Spirit making new
disciples till the ends of the earth?
Because the ends of the earth may well
be nearer than we realise.
Rev Spanky Moore is Young Adults Ministry Developer
for the Diocese of Christchurch.
spankymoore@gmail.com

Page 21

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

E D U C AT I O N

The Ecumenical Institute of
Distance Theological Studies
has been dealt a mortal blow.
Brian Thomas goes to the
heart of the enterprise.

Writing on the wall
for ecumenical body

O

ne of the last truly
ecumenical bodies in New
Zealand is set to expire in
two years, posing questions
over the future of a highly
regarded theological qualification.
The Ecumenical Institute of Distance
Theological Studies (EIDTS) has served
notice on its tutors and students that it
will close after Easter 2015 because of a
drastic cut in government funding.
More than half of its $225,000 annual

our students are doing
amazing work and
building up social capital

Page 22

budget – around $138,000 – has been
coming from the Tertiary Education
Commission, until now.
Fortunately, EIDTS has enough cash in
reserve to stay in business for two more
years, allowing the current crop of students
to move towards graduation, but the
logistics of closure are still “heartbreaking”
for director Linda Cowan.
EIDTS is based in a modest ownership
flat in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton,
and there’s palpable sorrow as Linda
and her academic registrar, Sue Haley,
timetable their own demise.
Pride, too – because EIDTS has fulfilled
an unseen, but vital role in theological
education across the churches for 20 years,
especially among laypeople.
As many as 95 students all over New
Zealand are currently studying for the
Licentiate of Theology (L.Th) through
EIDTS, alongside five Scholars in Theology.
And Linda is determined not to see any of
them “stranded” when the institute closes.
She’s already talking to Auckland and
Otago universities about cross-credits
towards a B.Theol degree and other
qualifications, but that exercise is a painful
one, because it poses real questions about

the future of L.Th itself.
Up to 102 students have gained their
L.Th through EIDTS, and a further 21 are
expected to graduate within two years.
Add the many hundreds of ordinands
who have passed through St John’s
College with an L.Th from the Joint Board
of Theological Studies – forerunner to
EIDTS – and you have an alumni that
spans generations of pastors, preachers
and teachers. And others with no religious
affiliation at all.
But the EIDTS closure impacts on more
than the student body: it’s likely to mean
the breakup of a teaching diaspora that
encompasses 47 tutors and moderators
from every Christian walk.
“We have a community of scholars that
can’t be equalled,” Linda says. “They’re truly
ecumenical and the best in their fields…”
Scholars such as music professor Colin
Gibson, historian Allan Davidson, biblical
scholar Judith McKinlay, geographer Garth
Cant, theology professor Paul Trebilco, and
pastoral theologian Mary Caygill…
The list reads like a who’s who of
mainline Christianity – hardly surprising
when you realise that many of these people
have been denominational leaders as well

Anglican Taonga

LEFT: Looking after their students to the very end:
Director Linda Cowan (right) and academic registrar Sue
Haley. Linda took over from the Rev Bruce Hansen in
2011, while Sue has been with EIDTS from the beginning.

as scholars and pastors.
The loss of government funding in
no way reflects on the quality of EIDTS
teaching. It’s just that tertiary money
is increasingly precious and therefore
has to be targeted at students under 25,
particularly Maori and Pacific Islanders
who need work qualifications.
In fact, Linda thinks EIDTS has been
lucky to get as much as it did. “Most of
our students are aged between 50 and 80
years,” she says. “And over 60 per cent
are women.”
In effect, then, EIDTS has majored
largely in second-chance education. For
the voluntary sector, moreover. And that
doesn’t lift the government’s job stats.
Linda is quick to defend the worth
of older students, though. “Most of our
students are doing amazing work and
building up social capital,” she argues.
“The church has become so reliant on
lay volunteers, that I worry about what will
happen when EIDTS isn’t there to educate
them.”
She worries, too, about what will
become of L.Th when EIDTS gives up the
administration.

St John’s College or Trinity College in
Auckland may choose to pick it up, but first
they will have to meet NZQA requirements
for papers at the highest level.
They’re also not as well geared to
distance education as EIDTS has been.
“A feature of EIDTS has been our
flexibility and caring,” Linda says. “We
don’t tick completion boxes, which
means students can gain a theological
qualification at their own pace.”
Another feature is the annual residential
schools, which EIDTS has held around the
country. Twelve students and tutors attended
the last one, in Dunedin, and relished the
experience not only as a spur to theological
understanding but also as an opportunity to
meet like-minds from all over.
So what lies ahead for Linda and Sue
when the doors close in 2015?
Well-earned retirement, especially for
Sue who has been with EIDTS since its
inception in 1993. In a way, Sue knows
more about those at the heart of ministry
than any bishop or moderator.
“But before we go we’ll celebrate
what EIDTS has done for ecumenical
education,” Linda says with a determined
tilt. “There deserves to be a jolly good
party at the end.”
Put it in your diaries. And think about
some outrageous party hats.
Rev Brian Thomas L.Th is online editor for
Anglican Taonga. He is also moderator for the L.Th
homiletics paper.

EASTERTIDE 2013

Who are the brains
behind EIDTS?

T

he Ecumenical Board of
Theological Studies represents
four denominations: Anglican,
Presbyterian, Methodist and Salvation
Army.
Members are: Rev John Daniel (chair),
Rev Jill van de Geer, Mrs Nicola Grundy,
Very Rev Dr Graham Redding, Rev Chris
Honore, Rev Peter Osborne, Mr David
Wardle and Rev Dr David Bell.
Members of the EIDTS Academic
Committee are: Rev John Hunt (chair),
Rev Dr Ken Booth, Rev Dr Judith
McKinlay, Dr Kathleen Rushton, Rev Dr
Terry Wall and Bishop David Coles.
The Licentiate in Theology (L.Th)
consists of 15 papers (360 credits) from
five subject areas: Hebrew Scriptures,
New Testament, Church in History
and Context, Theological Studies, and
Ministry and Mission.
EIDTS also offers an Associate
Diploma, Ministry Certificate,
Certificate for Lay Preachers, Certificate
for Lay Ministry Teams, and Scholar in
Theology (S.Th).
But EIDTS will not accept any new
students after this year – unless they
intend to complete only one paper.
For further information, go to the
website: www.eidts.ac.nz

Page 23

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Julanne Clarke-Morris catches up with two Kiwi Anglicans newly back from making
their mark at the world’s most high-powered forum for women’s rights

Our women
take on the world

W

So many devastating
and heart-breaking
stories

hen Rosina Scott-Fyfe
came for baptism in
the Anglican Church,
she didn’t imagine that
in less than two years
she’d be flying the flag of faith at the United
Nations headquarters in New York.1
But this March, at the age of only 20,
that’s exactly what she did.
Two years back, Rosina became aware
of a spiritual gap in her life.
Not that she lacked direction; she was
already “pretty involved”.
Going well in her Maori Studies degree
and fired up to make a difference in the
world, she was working for social justice
and environmental sustainability –
through her Ngai Tahu iwi, the St
Martin Island community and
the Regeneration national youth
activism network.
And yet she still felt
“something was missing.”
The dots began to join
up for Rosina when she
met a group of activists
from the Student Christian
Movement who were driven
by something altogether
different: their love of God.
One revelation led
to another, and Rosina
embarked on a new life
through the waters of
baptism.
Fast forward to March
2013: Rosina touches
down in New York City,
to join an international
“crack team” of nine
ecumenical women
students.
Stepping up at the UN: Rev Numia
Tomoana and Rosina Scott-Fyfe.

Page 24

Anglican Taonga

Their job: to lobby world governments
on women’s rights at the United
Nations Economic and Social Council’s
Commission on the Status of Women
(UNCSW).
It’s Rosina’s first time in a big city
like New York, so she’s not sure what
she’ll make of it. For a start, there’s the
Commission itself – a record crowd of
6000 women and men from every “dot.
org”, all jostling for governments’ attention.
Then there’s a glittering array of “side
events” on fascinating and worthy causes
that could easily lead a newbie astray.
News from the frontline on human
trafficking, forced prostitution, rape as a
weapon of war, stolen women and child
marriage, infanticide, genital mutilation
and the hidden global “pandemic” of
domestic violence…. All have a place in
this forum.
But so do stories of resistance, help
and hope.
Our Anglican Communion fronted
up to the March Commission with its
own stories, told through women like
Claudette Kigeme, the Burundian Mothers’
Union leader whose organisation trains
communities to uphold healthy family life,
and looks after survivors of violence.
Rosina heard many “devastating and
heart-breaking stories,” but also many that
were “hopeful and inspiring.”
But to get the job done meant a step
back from all of that.
Each meeting of the Commission has a
priority, and this year it was the Elimination
and prevention of all forms of violence
against women and girls.
The challenge is to forge agreement
between governments from across the
political, cultural and religious spectrum –
on ways to advance women’s equal rights
and ability to survive and thrive.
The UNCSW’s vehicle for that is a
set of words – known as the Agreed
Conclusions – which NGOs thrash out
with governments to effect the greatest
positive change.
Rosina was up to the challenge, but not
without staunch backing.
First, she had her team of well-versed
peers (from Liberia, Zimbabwe, Lebanon,
Italy, India, Georgia, Venezuela and the US).
Next, she had the World Student
Christian Federation (WSCF) and the
Ecumenical Women (EW) coalition behind

her – both ready to hand over advocacy
tools that have been crafted over decades
of experience in this forum.
Their first piece of advice was “pace
yourself” – essential to staying alert
through the 14-day Commission.
But they were also there to hold all
their church reps to the much bigger
picture.
International Anglican Women’s
Network Coordinator Ann Skamp
puts it like this:
“The strongest statement we
made in all our activities was
our witness that the 'Elimination
and prevention of gender based
violence against women and girls'
is a Gospel imperative, and part
of the transformative work of Jesus
Christ, recognising we are all
made in the image of God.”
That’s important because, as
Ann points out, not all religious
groups at the Commission were
there to promote equality and
empower women.
In the worst cases,
governments put forward religious or
cultural justifications for shocking violence
against women. And Rosina was struck

EASTERTIDE 2013

The challenge is to
forge agreement
across the spectrum.

Top: Rosina back at the flaxroots.
Above: Taking the message to the streets.

Page 25

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

SOCIAL JUSTICE

I had to be hardhearted, to follow the
policy I was under.

Rosina with WSCF's 2013 UN advocacy team.

by the clarity of one short quote, “Bad
theology kills people.”
WSCF and EW helped the Christian
delegations to stick to key messages,
refined by theological reflection, research
and analysis, and distilled into a list of
“talking points”.
That way, each of the 175-plus women
and men under the EW banner could zero
in on policies that would have the biggest
impact on women.
Rosina took those talking points to
regional and young women’s caucuses,
while her team took the issues to
government policy makers from each of
their nine countries.
Here’s what they focused on:
• Eradicating cultural practices which
perpetuate violence against women
• Opposing gender-based stereotyping,
discrimination and oppression that
leads to violence
• Promoting laws on equal pay for
equal work
• Educating men and women on
prevention and response to violence
against women – especially among
police, court workers, medical staff,
teachers, community leaders
• Providing resources and services for
violence survivors in rural, remote and
minority communities

Talking points on those same issues
were in the hands of the 25-member
Anglican Communion delegation, too.
Which meant we had two Aotearoa
Anglicans on the job. Because one
member of the Anglican delegation,
Rev Numia Tomoana, is a locum hospital
chaplain in Hastings.
For Numia, setting policy is not just talk.
She’s had to live with policy that clearly
fails to meet women’s needs.
She was happy to point that out, too,
when she met with our NZ Women’s
Affairs Ministry and UN mission teams in
Wellington and New York, alongside Rape
Crisis, Maori Women’s Refuge and TOAHNNEST, NZ’s nationwide network of groups
working to prevent sexual violence.
Before ordination, Numia had worked
for seven years at Income NZ (now WINZ).
There, she was assigned the Domestic
Purposes Benefit section, which constantly
put her in touch with suffering women.
“I saw a lot of victimization there,” she
recalls.
“Every day a different single mother
would come to see me with an emergency
situation: needing anonymity, wanting
shelter from violence, asking to be
connected with a women’s refuge, or just
needing to buy bread, nappies, clothing,
or milk powder for her kids.
“There was a huge amount of pastoral
care in that role. The women had to fight

against the system, too, so in the end I
became their advocate.
“The frustration for me was that I had to
be hard-hearted, to follow the policy I was
under.
“I’d have a woman crying in front of me
and asking for food, and I’d have to say,
‘What did you spend your grocery money
on?’ And then, ‘Oh, your son’s 9th birthday
party? Well, you’ve known that was coming
for a year, so why didn’t you budget for it?’
“When all she was asking me for was
bread.”
In time those conversations became too
much for Numia.
“About a year before I left Income NZ,
I had a vision of myself with my heart
bleeding and my hands bound. It was
the policy that bound me, it didn’t let me
respond with a pastoral heart.”
Ten years later, on the other side of the
world and armed with an MTh in pastoral
theology, the Rev Numia Tomoana got
the chance to loose those policy bonds.
But more than that, she formed part of
a Commission team helping to shape
worldwide policies on behalf of struggling
women – at the highest level.
This year, unlike last, the UNCSW
passed a full set of Agreed Conclusions.
They include a line which states
“women’s economic empowerment and
full and equal access to resources” is
“essential for addressing the structural

and underlying causes of violence
against women and girls”. Recognition,
in other words, that if women can’t get
emergency financial help, they can’t find
a way out of abuse.
As a former chaplain of Hukarere
Maori Girl’s’ College, Numia has also
been there for young Maori women not
in crisis. And that has given her an insight
into the prevention side of UNCSW’s brief.
The Commission’s conclusions stress
the need for equal access to education
for girls (particularly in rural areas) and
for “closing the gender gap at all levels
of education.”
They go on to say “indigenous women
often suffer multiple forms of discrimination
and poverty which increase their
vulnerability to all forms of violence.”
So just being there for young Maori
women, to build their confidence and
teach them to expect the best out of life, is
right on line.
“I saw girls whose lives were
transformed at Hukarere, including one or
two who had been in despair… and who
then managed to leave at year 13 with
an intact faith, strong values and cultural
identity.
“We were teaching them to make good
choices, to be strong in themselves and to
demand respect.”

And as far as Numia is concerned,
once the laws are sorted out, that’s what
the korero about “empowering women”
really means.
Rosina agrees absolutely. Which is why
both women were so inspired by one
“side event” that stood out from the rest: a
workshop run by men.
The idea was that men should be
working with men and boys, starting at
the beginning – to change attitudes and
assumptions about women and men that
can lead to violence.
Rosina writes: “Nothing is more
important than men taking part in changing
the causes of violence… because while
most men are not the perpetrators, most of
the perpetrators are men.
“One of the key messages from this
powerful event was that we do not need a
society that ‘protects’ women; we need a
society that respects women.
“And that means a society where men
can be strong without using violence.”
Julanne Clarke-Morris is Editor of Taonga magazine.
For more information on the UN CSW go to
www.unwomen.org/how-we-work/csw/
http://ecumenicalwomen.org/

Creating a New Zealand
Prayer Book
A Personal Reminiscence of a 25
Year Odyssey 1964-89

Taranaki
The Taranaki
Cathedral Church
of St Mary has
been a place, for
some tangata whenua, which
symbolized the wounds of
Taranaki’s past.

They had struggled,
and fought - and died.

But on Sunday March 3 this
year, it reached towards
becoming a centre of
reconciliation and peace
between Maori and Pakeha.
Will the healing take hold?
Time alone will tell, of course.

Page 28

But we already have this
much on the record from
Jamie Allen, the Dean of
the Cathedral:
“We were more deeply
blessed that I can possibly
express by the events of that
weekend – and I have been
so deeply affected by what
took place.”
So what, in fact, did
take place?
Lloyd Ashton has been
finding out.

Anglican Taonga

D

uring the course of the
Sunday morning Eucharist
on March 3, 17 black-edged
panels which have hung
from high places within the
Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary for
more than 100 years were taken down and
moved to other, less prominent locations
within the cathedral.
The facts seem simple enough.
But recounting those bald facts doesn’t
capture how symbolic that action was.
Because these ‘hatchments’ – which
honour the British colonial troops who
fought and died in the Taranaki wars of the
1860s – were passed, hand-to-hand, by
hundreds of church-goers, towards their
new and less dominating positions.
They were handed along the pews
by descendants of those troops who’d
struggled and died so far from home
more than 150 years ago.
They were passed on by descendants
of those Maori warriors who, as
Archbishop David Moxon noted in his
sermon, had struggled and fought and
died “to retain their mana, their lands and
their way of life; their rangatiratanga”.
Passed on by people from Parihaka,
whose tupuna had peacefully resisted the
invaders of 1881.
By Chris Finlayson, the Minister of
Treaty Negotiations.
By Taranaki community leaders.
By the young and the old, and by
uniformed soldiers of today.
For more than 100 years those
hatchments had hung high on the north
and south walls of the nave, on the west
wall of the baptistery, and in the transept.
And the idea of moving them had been
debated and agonized over for more than
40 years.
The idea was never about
dishonouring the memory of those
soldiers. Some, after all, lie in the
cathedral graveyard, and some have
descendants in the pews now.
Instead it was to acknowledge that
those hatchments had defined and
dominated the worship space.
And to acknowledge that St Mary’s
Church (as it was from 1846 until 2010,
when it was blessed as a cathedral) had,
during the Taranaki Land Wars of the
1860s, served as a garrison church.

In other words, it had been a church
that sheltered the colonial troops.
And to acknowledge that the honour
bestowed in the church by those
hatchments had been lopsided.
And to acknowledge the mamae, the
pain, still felt by Taranaki Maori whose
tupuna had struggled, in vain, against
the colonial juggernaut – and whose
sacrifice had not been memorialized in
hatchments.
As Archbishop David noted in his
March 3 sermon: “Honour was, and is, due
to them within these sacred precincts.”
The point is that if the cathedral was
ever going to live up to its claim – to
become the cathedral for all the people of
Taranaki – taking those hatchments down
from their high places had to be done.
Otherwise, Taranaki Maori would
continue to do what they had done for
150 years.
They would avoid the place.
*

*

*

*

*

The time was ripe to move the
hatchments.
As Jamie Allen puts it, March 3 was
“God’s kairos, the right, very perfect
moment” to tackle that job.
Jamie is the cathedral’s first Dean.
He’s English, and he and his wife Suzy
and their four daughters had moved to
New Zealand late in 2009.
In one sense, then, they’re newcomers
to Taranaki.
But, in another sense, their Taranaki
roots go deep.
As a boy growing up in East Suffolk1
Jamie says he was “changed forever”
by encountering the story of Te Whiti o
Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi of Parihaka.
Jamie was ordained in Coventry
Cathedral, which has inspired many of
the centres for peace and reconciliation
around the world – and he’d caught a
vision for Taranaki’s cathedral being a
centre for reconciliation here, too.
But, with Jamie, his connection with
Taranaki goes deeper than that.
Last year, as Jamie and Suzy’s daughter
Carrie was dying, the Allen family asked
for the old St Mary’s graveyard – which
had been closed since 1861 – to be reopened.
By doing so, they were acknowledging

how much the cathedral family had taken
Carrie into their hearts.
When the time came, Carrie’s coffin
was gently lowered to rest, upon two
whariki, or woven mats, within the church
graveyard.
Those whariki were gifted by Taranaki
Maori as a mark of their love and respect.
What’s more, the community of
Parihaka has received Carrie’s kawe
mate. In other words, they gathered at Te
Niho Marae at Parihaka on one weekend
last November to mourn Carrie, and her
framed photo now hangs on the wall of
their wharenui2.
The “immeasurable grace and
hospitality” shown to Jamie Allen’s family
by the people of Parihaka, then, and by
the people of Taranaki generally, has
deeply moved him.
So there’s not much doubting about
how committed Jamie is to Taranaki, and
to reconciliation.
*

T

*

*

*

*

he March 3 service for shifting
the hatchments was advertised
far and wide.
But how do you handle a
move like that? What exactly do you do?
Because the nearer March 3 came, the
more Jamie became aware “that feelings
would be running very, very high.
“People would be present with such
hugely different perspectives – and
it’s beyond the scope of any human
framework that I know of to unite such a
Page 29

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

R E C O N C I L I AT I O N

diversity of pain and hope.”
Jamie knew of only one framework
equal to that task: the Eucharist itself.
The sacrifice represented by moving
those hatchments could only make sense,
says Jamie, “within the embrace of the
Eucharist, with the overarching focus on
the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”
“For the action to be deeply healing,”
Jamie reflects, “we would call upon the
Spirit to hover over, in and through the
redemptive act of the Eucharist.”
There was another thing, too. There’d
be no going back later to finish the job.
Jamie was convinced that the whole
job, from go to whoa, had to be brought to
pass within that Eucharist service.
In other words, taking down all 17
hatchments, passing them through the
body of the packed church, climbing
ladders and scaffolding to rehang

them – all that had to take place within
the framework “of brokenness coming
together”.
*

*

*

*

Has the passing of
the peace ever
meant so much?

*

At first, Jamie had placed the
confession towards the beginning of
the service.
As you do.
But then he saw that it made better
sense to hold the confession back until
later – and to weave that rite into the
movement of the hatchments.
So the cathedral’s Kaumatua,
Archdeacon Tiki Raumati, led the
confession (“… O God… we ask that you
guide us into being a united community
of peacemakers.” Spirit of God, search
our hearts) with Bishop Philip Richardson
declaring the absolution – which then
led to a public commitment to strive for
peace, to seek to heal the wounds of war,
and to work for a just future.
Then came the time to move the
hatchments.
Jamie prepared the congregation. “This
is a sacred moment; allow the Holy Spirit

to touch you,” and explained how things
would unfold.
The choir would move down to the
back of the cathedral, he said, to begin
passing the hatchments to the folk in the
baptistery, and those folk would pass the
hatchments along the pews to the very
front of the church, where the children
would form a human chain and pass the
hatchments to their new home in the
transept.
As the hatchments began to snake
their way along the pews, the Devon
Intermediate kapa haka group responded
with an action song.
There were pauses for reflection.
Canticles sung and read by children,

Anglican Taonga

by iwi representatives and Archbishop
Brown Turei.
The job was finished when Damon
Ritai, the Principal of Frankley School,
handed the last hatchment up a ladder to
Andrew Moffat, the social history curator
at New Plymouth’s Puke Ariki Museum –
while Howie Tamati, of rugby league fame,
and now of Sport Taranaki, held Andrew’s
ladder.
And right there, you had a picture
of the gathered community of Taranaki,
enabled to act together by the moving of
those hatchments.
Then, and only then, was it time for
Archbishop David to call for the peace to
be celebrated.
As he did so, applause rang out.
Has there ever been a time, in a church

in Aotearoa New Zealand, when the
passing of the peace meant so much?
*

*

*

*

*

The hatchments now hang in two
places: in the transept – which is to the
north side of the crossing at St Mary’s –­
and within the vestry.
In other words, you won’t see the full
set of 17 on display together anymore.
Jamie is quite happy with that
arrangement.
“You don’t necessarily keep all your
family ornaments out on display at home,”
he says.
“And you certainly don’t put them out
all in the same room.”
“There’s a rightness about where they

EASTERTIDE 2013

hang now,” he thinks. “They are still in
sanctified space. But they’re not front
and central.
“That’s the long and short of it, really.”
Jamie says there are some folk who
feel the hatchments should be gone
completely. For a while, he was one
of them.
“But you begin to realise,” he says, “that
they tell a story which we must always
learn from.
“And that they can be signs of hope, as
well as signs of mamae.”
In the sermon Jamie preached the
following Sunday, he reflected on what
had taken place seven days earlier:
“It wasn’t until the end of the service,”
he said, “that I came to a deeper
understanding of what the Holy Spirit had
completed in our midst.
“The Spirit had taken an unhealthy
balance of power – which these artifacts
had gained – and in the process of
our handling them, touching them and
collectively moving them, had evened
that out.”
The Spirit, he said, had prepared
the ground for the move, and for “a
deepening love – because perfect love
casts out fear.”

Pictures by Anne Aitchinson.
1 Curiously enough, the East Suffolk Regiment
features in one of the hatchments.
2 Carrie’s headstone will also honour her first in Te Reo
Maori, and in English, second.

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Archdeacon Tiki Raumati had been ordained deacon in St
Mary’s way back in 1965.
You could say there’s been a long drought since then.
Because until last year, Tiki was the only Maori ever to have
been ordained there.
Things really began to change, though, on March 6, 2010.
That was the day of the cathedral’s consecration. That was the
day when Tiki Raumati was made the Cathedral Kaumatua –
and Jamie Allen was installed as the cathedral’s first Dean.
Then came the service we’re discussing here – March 3, 2013,
when the hatchments were moved.
Matua Tiki gave Jamie Allen his account of that day.

There’s no going back
“When this church became a
cathedral, I was delighted that they
called it the Cathedral of Taranaki –
and not New Plymouth Cathedral, or
some other name.
“Because the name tells us that
this cathedral belongs to all of God’s
people in Taranaki.

I've never seen so
many Maori in this
building.

Page 32

“But these hatchments – since the
first one was unveiled in 1878, they’ve
been the source of pain for many of
God’s people.
“There was the darkness about them,
and there was nothing to them which
spoke of light, or of the Gospel.
“People would ask me: ‘What do they
have to do with the Christian faith?’
“Many knew their history, and so they
wouldn’t enter the building. To see those
objects hanging there was a source of
pain for them.
“So, after so many years of waiting,
we’ve had this service to move them
– and to take away a weight which has
laid on this church.
“The day was brilliant.
“And I don’t just mean the weather
was good.
“It was brilliant, deep down. A new
beginning for our cathedral.
“We were getting it right, and by
acting and responding in love, we were
being true to the teachings of Te Whiti.
“It was wonderful to see people
from nga hau e wha pouring in to the
cathedral. So many people, from so
many backgrounds and walks of life.

“And I’ve never seen so many Maori
in this building.
“Lots of the things we did that day
made a difference. But there were two,
in particular, that will stay etched in my
memory.
“The first was when the children sang
that we are in the same waka together.
“That moved me – because they
were so right. That’s how we need to be.
We need to grow into the people God
wants us to be.
“Secondly, there was the cloaking of
the Dean in the korowai of aroha.
“People weren’t expecting that – and
after the service, many asked me: ‘Who
put the cloak on the Dean’s shoulders?’
“I told them: ‘We all did.’
“The sight of that korowai being
placed around your shoulders… that
spoke more clearly and loudly than any
words I could ever say.
“And now – there is no going back.
“Kare te patiki e hoki ki tana
puehutanga.
“The flounder never returns to the
mud it has stirred up.
“Let’s move on.
“And let’s move on together.”

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

NEWS

Which one for the
heart of Christchurch?

R

estored, traditional or
contemporary?

Bishop Victoria Matthews won’t
yet say which of those three
options for a new Cathedral in The Square
she favours.
During April, the Diocese of Christchurch
is actively seeking feedback (see: www.
cathedralconversations.org.nz) so she
won’t stack the deck by declaring her
preference.
But whichever option is selected –
and we should know in May – Bishop
Matthews is quite clear that a cathedral in
Christchurch is “for all the people of God
– which is everyone.”
Furthermore, she says, without a word
being preached, or a hymn being sung,
the building itself should exercise
a ministry.

come and engage.
“That’s why cathedrals are often places of
pilgrimage.”
The same ministry will be apparent,
hopefully, with the soon-to-be-completed
Transitional Cathedral, says Bishop
Victoria.
“People may seek that building out,”
she says, “because it’s a Shigeru Ban
disaster-build.

be collated and circulated after May 3 –
and thus equipped, the Cathedral Property
Group, the Church Property Trustees and
the Diocesan Standing Committee will
choose their preferred option.
This will then be outlined to the High
Court, which will then rule on the case
brought by the Great Christchurch
Buildings Trust to stop deconstruction of
the quake-wrecked cathedral.

“As opposed to it being a house of God.
“But if we do it right, when they go there,
they’ll find God.”
Some of those who’ve insisted on a
stone-for-stone recreation of the ruined
Cathedral in The Square have told Bishop
Victoria: ‘We don’t much care what you
do with the inside. It’s the outside we
want right – because the outside brings
tourists.’

“You can have exquisitely beautiful parish
churches, but you would rarely say:
‘This very building has a ministry.’

“And we say: actually, it’s not a tourist
destination.

“It should be that the minute you see
a cathedral, or even as you anticipate
seeing it, you feel an active invitation to

ne weekend this February,
over 250 Cantabrian young
adults from more than
35 churches of various
denominations (and none at all) packed
their tents and gas burners for The Festival
of Salt and Light.
Set on a farm at Gore Bay, North
Canterbury, the weekend offered a
smorgasbord of odd things happening in
unexpected places – with plenty of room
for general lazing and socialising.
The festival had a lineup of great guest
speakers, including the Pakeha Dean of St
John’s College, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, and

many of us … have
forgotten the basic skills
of how to disciple people.

Page 34

Rev Darryl Gardiner, as well as workshops
covering topics as broad as ‘how to
choose a job that honours God’ through to
Christian meditation.
But on the Saturday afternoon, while most
people wandered to the beach to swim or
sunbathe, an experiment took place. The
Revs Megan Herles-Mooar and Ian Smith
and set up two chairs at opposite ends of
the main meeting marquee, and made
themselves available during the afternoon
for ‘Speed Spiritual Direction’ sessions.
Was anyone interested? Yup. Big time.
To their surprise, a steady stream of
young adults lined up for the chance to
explore, question and lament their faith with
a safe stranger.
“What struck me about the experience
at Salt and Light was the eagerness with
which the young people entered the
process.” Says Megan. “There is little time
for messing about – they sit down with
you and in a short time are sharing with
profound depth the spiritual issues they are
wrestling with.
Unresolved guilt, uncertainty about the
future, the difficulty in hearing God's voice
in a new way, the trauma of being wounded
by the church.
I was profoundly aware of the need and
desire among these amazing men and

women to connect with another and talk
about what was happening in their lives
with God, and was deeply moved by the
experience.”
“I’m left with a great sense of need in this
age group.”
Globally, there’s an emerging realization
that many of us in the Western Church
have forgotten the basic skills of how to
disciple people. Sure – we know how to run
worship services, small group discussions,
community outreaches and theological
lectures – but that relational skill of helping
someone younger in faith navigate a world
of consumerism and competing voices in
the Way of Jesus has pretty much lapsed
into a long lost art form.
Which begs the question, could Spiritual
Direction be one way for the Anglican
Church to engage young adults where
they’re currently itching?
Last year Jemma Hartley, a 21 yearold student at Canterbury University, had
hit a wall with her faith, which lead to a
profound experience with a Spiritual
Mentor from her church.
Here’s how she tells the story.
Spanky Moore

ife was fine.I was happy without
God. On my way to graduating and
all set up to do a year of honours.
Studying what I loved. A fantastic
flat. A great boyfriend. Nothing was there to
bring me down.
I was a woman attending a church, lying
about my relationship with God, and I was
actually OK with that.
It was a slow but noticeable change.
Where I used to at least give God a say in my
actions, thoughts and words, in 2012 it just
didn’t seem to be that relevant anymore.
I didn’t feel the need to ask God’s opinion
about as much as I used to. I’d had a taste
of living selfishly after years of volunteering
at church camps, playing in worship bands,
praying for people I’d never met, getting up
early to read my Bible, and journaling what
God was doing in my life.
And I relished this freedom. My grades
didn’t suddenly drop when I didn’t pick up
my Bible for a month. My relationships with
friends and family were still as bold and
loving and exciting as ever. I was happy to
live through 2012, showing everyone around
me I was still the same Jesus-enthusiast I’d
always been, just without doing the behindthe-scenes work.
This was easier to do when I had things
to distract me from my emotional state.
Assignments, exams and 21st parties all
delayed that question dreaded by any BA
graduate, “So, what job does that lead to?”
When I look back at my year, to be
honest, I didn’t miss the discipline of
reading my Bible, in favour of other far
more enjoyable books. I didn’t miss the

uncomfortable and inconvenient call by
God to give, which had been dulled by the
whispers of a consumption-driven world.
I didn’t miss the rules that so many
people place around following what seems
like a conditional God.
What I did miss was the community that
falls into place when those around you are
serving a dangerous, demanding, lifegiving God.
I missed the community of honesty
and accountability that I knew existed at
my church, and I was excluded purely
because of my pride and laziness.
But the turning point for me was seeing
the life of a very close friend completely
changed by his relationship with a
spiritual mentor.
I saw him undergo a dramatic change
– not only in his actions, but deep in his
heart. Obviously having someone who was
willing to listen, talk things through and
hold him to account had boosted his self
esteem, his ability to make decisions, and
his acceptance of his own doubts.
I listened to the stories he told about
his spiritual direction sessions. He gushed
about how love and respect was tangible in
the discussions with his mentor.
Envy welled hot beneath my eyelids as I
listened. I knew this was what I needed.
But who?
I was put on to see Meg by our vicar.
Coming with a great recommendation and
little else, I decided to take a chance.
Tea in one hand, nerves in the other,
she sat me down, closed her office door
and simply asked me, “So, what brings
you here?”
Struggling to answer this myself, I
spoke about how things had changed for
me in 2012.
What had started off as my first year of
flatting and giving this new church some
of my time, had become a self-interested
year of being happy without God and not
being answerable to anyone.
My relationship with my boyfriend was
suffering. And my future had turned into a
negative space of the unknown, where I felt
without support.
Slowly, Meg began to unfold my layers
of anxiety.
She helped me to see how I needed
God, that I didn’t really want to walk away
and I’d let apathy reign over me for too long.
Through the slow art of conversation my
shell of indifference and laziness began
to crack. I realised I wasn’t actually happy
without God.

EASTERTIDE 2013

Over the weeks and months she
encouraged me to keep talking. I learned
that even if I couldn’t see God in a situation
that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She
encouraged me to find things I’m passionate
about, and link them to my church life. She
helped me see God as one who lives in a
vibrant place, not a static, dry church.
She challenged me on my true motives for
relationships too. Yes, sometimes the honestly
stung, but I desperately needed it.

Without (her)….I’m
certain I’d still be stuck
in a spiritual rut.

Most importantly, Meg helped to connect
the dots of where God is working in my life in
a real and exciting way.
Because of this woman who has invested
time, emotion, prayer and love into my
journey, I can go forward into 2013 proud of
who I am and where I have come from.
I’m comfortable with my doubts and
know that God would be happy with my
honesty; after all if I knew everything, then I
wouldn’t need God.
And I have someone beside me who cares
about what I stand for and where I fall.
Without the willingness and time of this
stranger to sit down with me to listen and to
ask good questions, I’m certain I’d still be
stuck in a spiritual rut.
I just wish more of my friends who are
asking these same questions of themselves
had access to a mentor like Meg.
Amongst the young adults I rub shoulders
with, I don’t see any shortage of demand.
So, any takers out there?”
Ms Jemma Hartley is studying mass communications at
the University of Canterbury and assists with children’s
ministry in the parish of Avonhead.
jha197@uclive.ac.nz
Rev Spanky Moore is Young Adults Ministry Developer
for the Diocese of Christchurch
spankymoore@gmail.com

SacredPutting
Economics
mammon under rein
F
or decades, futurologists
have been predicting an
age of leisure - a time, when
technological advances will
make it so easy to produce what we need,
that humans will be freed to live lives of
recreation and creative pursuit.
Yet, decade after decade, this dream
remains just that. Apart from an elite

scarcity is not even the
truth, even if we act as
though it were.

Page 36

few, people work harder, for longer hours,
producing more and more, and owning less
and less.
So what have we been doing wrong?
US author Charles Eisenstein argues it’s
not due to a failure in technology, but a failure
in the way we understand and use money.
In his book, Sacred Economics: Money,
Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition,1
Eisenstein claims we’ve accepted a number
of disabling myths, and hold to them as
almost sacred truths.
The first myth is that we live in a world of
scarcity. This assumes there are not enough
resources to support human life, so we
must fight for and hoard whatever precious
resources we have.
A useful survival tool, perhaps. But in a
world where food is regularly dumped and
people are homeless while houses sit empty,
scarcity is not even the truth, even if we act as
though it were.
The problem lies not in the lack
of resources, but in our inability, or
unwillingness, to distribute and share them.

A second myth, strongly related to the first,
is that we are separate individuals, able to
support ourselves in isolation from the rest of
the world.
Aside from a very small number of
recluses, this is also untrue. The food we eat,
the houses we live in, the cars we drive, or
even walking safely down the street … none of
these would be possible without a network, a
community, a body to which we all belong.
Of course, the main tool we use to
organise the distribution of the things we
need, is money. This wouldn’t be a problem,
Eisenstein argues, if our understanding of
money hadn’t shifted so fundamentally.
Money, he says, should be seen as a tool
for distributing and sharing resources. But
now it has become a way to accumulate and
hoard resources.
For Eisenstein, it is the very illusion
of separation and independence, which
encourages this hoarding mentality.
This myth says, “I own myself”.
Sacred Economics proposes a reform of
money so that it becomes a tool of giving,

Anglican Taonga

rather than taking and keeping, a tool for
generosity rather than selfishness.
Eisenstein makes several compelling
observations about modern money.
Unlike any other worldly treasure,
money lacks impermanence. It doesn’t rot
or fade. No number of moths, nor rust, nor
even thieves can destroy the modern idea
of money.
That’s because, in most part, it is just an
idea, separate from the material world. And
because of this, more than ever before,
those with the most wealth have the ability
to acquire more. Simply having money is a
recipe for acquiring more - in the form of
interest on loans and rental on land.
Eisenstein sees these forms of usury as
one of the great evils of money as it exists
today. The result is the accumulation of
ever increasing wealth in the hands of an
elite few.
Eisenstein connects the usury system
with the false need for constant economic
growth. Never-ending monetary growth
demands that ever more of humanity’s
common treasures are converted into
money and claimed as “owned” by a
subset of humanity.
Most people have all but accepted this
change in thinking when it comes to land,
but even this is a recent development.
The idea that land, gifted to all by God,
should be claimed by a minority who
demand money from others just for using it,
he says, is not intuitively natural or just.
God’s aeons-old treasures such as oil,
water, forests, even the genetic building
blocks of life itself, are now being ringfenced by patents and sold back to the true
heirs of the Kingdom – the rest of humanity.
At the same time, says Eisenstein,
humanity’s shared creative and
technological wisdom is being gradually
divided up and converted into money.
So how do we fight back against this
trend?
Eisenstein suggests a range of solutions.
Fundamental to each one is the philosophy
of gift giving, which he believes should
replace the idea of paying.
Usury would be eliminated in
Eisenstein’s system. He calls for an end to
interest, and a new “negative interest” on
currency, so that profit cannot be gained
simply from owning money.
There’s a reason why Eisenstein treats
land and money on equal terms.
Money itself, he says, should be treated
as a “common” in the same way that water,

air, land, and our shared cultural and
technological heritage must be.
Giving money where it is needed
should be as intuitive and easy as lending
an umbrella to a friend when it’s raining.
But, of course, there’s a catch.
As always, it’s easier to question the
faults in a system, than it is to provide the
answers.
Eisenstein’s analysis of what is wrong
seems much stronger than his solutions.
Still he’s asking important, challenging
questions that should get us Christians
thinking.
Jesus asked even more challenging
questions. He made even more challenging
demands.
We cannot serve both God and
mammon, Jesus warns us, and with a
mammon rebelling so hard against God,
this looks as urgent now as ever.
What Eisenstein can suggest to us is
the idea that mammon must be tamed and
made to serve God. All things in the world
are created good, and all must therefore be
redeemable, including money.
For Eisenstein, the idea of separation is
central to the problem.
The Gospels challenge us on this
idea of separation time after time - both
separation from God and one another.
If we believe we’re separate from one
another, then we need to hoard resources.
If we believe we’re separate from God,
we may be deluded into thinking God’s
world can be divided up and owned
individually.
These two separations are impossible to
reconcile with our faith. Both God’s acts in
creation and the incarnation declare that this
world is God’s and God wishes to share it as
a gift, in the most intimate way possible.
How then, can anyone make an
individual claim to a gift from the Creator?
We are not separate from God.
Neither are we separate from each
other. We who are many are one body, for
we all share the one bread.
We are the body of Christ, and
individually members of it.
To think that one part of the body can
benefit from taking from another part
makes no sense.
And this interdependence extends
beyond the church, into all of humanity and
ultimately all creation.
In Luke’s gospel Jesus rejects the myths
of separation quite simply:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all

EASTERTIDE 2013

…mammon
must be tamed
and made to
serve God.

your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind and you shall love your neighbour
as yourself.’ (Lk. 10:27)
However, once we acknowledge our
interconnectedness, that raises some
uncomfortable questions.
Should we say to our neighbour, or to our
children “Yes, you can borrow this money, or live
in one of my homes, but only if you spend
a huge chunk of your income and time
working to make me wealthier…”
Or to God, “I will take this gift you gave
to us all, rip it apart and destroy it, then sell
the detritus to my siblings?
Is that what we and our economic system
are doing? Does that conflict with our
understanding of God?
And if it does, what are we to do?
Give away our rental property and stop
profiting from its income?
Stop dividing up those treasures that
should be held in common?
At a global level, should we write off
national debts and see trade as a way to
distribute our abundance, rather than seek
to profit from scarcity?
Jesus said take all your money and give
it to the poor. As impossible a demand then,
as it seems now.
But, with God all things are possible.
And therein lies the Kingdom of Heaven.
Max Whitaker studies New Testament at Otago
University and is an Anglican lay reader based in the
Maniototo.
mrmaxwhitaker@gmail.com
Ms. Skye Isaac introduced Sacred Economics to Taonga.
Her reflection on the gift economy is online at http://
www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/Features/keeping
1. Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein is
downloadable from http://sacred-economics.com.

Page 37

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Pigs not people
Brian Thomas bristles because families are being denied the
crumbs off the table

L

eftover bread that used to feed
poor families in Christchurch
is now being hogged by a
Canterbury pig farmer. And
the supermarket that produces the
bread is impervious to our squeals of
disappointment.
Anglican forbearance prevents me
from naming (and therefore shaming)
the farmer and the supermarket, but I
can tell you that the supermarket is big
and it’s New Zealand owned. So we can’t
hang this injustice on the Australian
food giants.
The surplus bread is cleared from
supermarket shelves before six o’clock
every morning – up to five trolleys of it,

we are talking here of
families whose children
go to school with empty
stomachs

Page 38

including assorted buns, French sticks,
and iced cakes in plastic containers.
Then it’s wheeled to the back of the
supermarket for the first breakfast
sitting: sticky-beak seagulls which caw
and claw through the wrappers and pick
holes in the loaves.
They need to be quick, however,
because my wife Chris and I have been
part of a volunteer team that picks up
the bread and delivers it to the quakeravaged suburb of Aranui.
Soon after day-break.
We don’t hang about when there’s free
food in the offing.
And neither do Ila and Ray, two Aranui
superannuitants who scramble out
of bed to place the bread on a table
outside St Ambrose’s Church, in time for
school lunches.
Well, that was before the pig farmer
complained that his pigs weren’t getting
their share – and was awarded the
entire daily surplus by the supermarket
management.
To be fair, the supermarket has its
reasons.
It seems some of our collectors have
been remiss on public holidays, and the
seagulls have had a field day.
Our collectors, moreover, have not
always worn high-visibility jackets,

posing a health & safety hazard in
the loading area. Fair enough, but we
would have complied in a flash, had we
been asked.
The supermarket has also worried
about security, with various unknowns
having access to the back of the store in
the cold, grey dawn. My fault probably,
because I sometimes neglected to shave
before the pickup.
But the principal reason, the
compelling reason, for the supermarket
siding with the pig farmer, I suspect, is
that it believes people won’t actually
buy the bread if they can get it for free.
The food mill, in other words, turns on
“money through the till,” and who can
argue with that fundamental tenet of
consumerism?
Except that we are talking here of
families who are scraping to survive.
Of children who go to school with empty
stomachs, and who are now denied even
the crumbs off a supermarket table.
Anyone who has checked out the
supermarket dumpsters will know
there’s a colossal amount of food going
to waste every day, just because it’s
passed the use-by date.
In fact, there’s no shortage of food
throughout the city, or even the world
at large.
The problem rather is one of
distribution, of ensuring that edible
surplus fills hungry stomachs instead of
dumps and pig pens.
But there’s a happy ending to this pig’s
ear of a story: a postscript that shows
not every food giant is happy to cast
bread before swine. And I will name this
party, because some lights shouldn’t be
hidden under a bushel.
The Pak ‘n’ Save supermarket in
Moorhouse Ave already supplies the
Anglican City Mission with tinned and
perishable goods. And it’s more than
happy to divvy up its surplus bread with
the families of Aranui and whoever else
needs it.
As a firm believer in the biblical
adage, “Cast your bread upon the
waters,” I’m sure the Moorhouse
supermarket won’t be disadvantaged by
its generosity.
In fact, it just might become our
supermarket of choice.

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

ENVIRONMENT

As a Christian conservationist Phillip Donnell
meets plenty of different reactions to his calling.
Some, more positive than others. In the light of
four Christian responses to the environment, he
asks us to question what our faith demands for
our planet.

Savings souls,

not seals
D

ave Bookless’ introduction to his
book,“Planetwise”, defines four
categories of response to the
environmental crisis. They are:

Insidious
“Ecology and environmental issues are a
bit dodgy, and Christians should keep well
clear. New Age philosophy has infiltrated the
green movement.”
The environment is created by God,
not New Agers. It’s like saying Christians
shouldn’t listen to music because some
musicians have dubious beliefs. But music,
like the environment, is God’s good creation.
The environmental movement certainly
includes people with a very different
worldview from Christianity, but also many
who are openly searching for spiritual reality.
That’s another compelling reason for
Christians to get involved. It’s a missional
activity.

Irrelevant
“Caring for the earth is not important for
Christians. The Gospel is about saving souls,
not saving seals.”
At the time the New Testament was
written, a key issue was whether ultimate
reality is purely spiritual. But the Bible
is very clear: we are not merely spirits
or souls, our material bodies are vitally
important. By extension, God’s purpose is to
redeem all of creation – spirit, matter, human
and beyond. As far as God is concerned, the
earth is not disposable.

Incidental
“I’m glad somebody’s caring for the planet,
just as long as it doesn’t have to be me.”

In my observation, this is the majority
view of Christians, most of the time.
Some churches proudly proclaim they
recycle their bottles, abandon their cars
to go to church one Sunday per year, or
hold an annual outdoor service. They are
to be commended, but such one-off efforts
fall far short of a credible response to
environmental degradation.
Genuine ecological action must flow from
the core of our believing rather than being
some kind of add-on or optional activity to
ease our consciences.

Integral
“Care for the whole of creation is
fundamental to the God of the Bible and to
God’s purposes for human beings.”
Life is full of important issues, and we
can’t get involved in all of them. However,
there are some things that every follower
of Jesus has to take on board. As I continue
to read the Bible, I’ve come to realize that
caring for God’s creation is a fundamental
part of our Christian calling.
Just as we are called to pray, meet
together, study God’s word, and share the
good news, so we are called to stewardship
of this earth. The early Christians had this
conviction and we need to rediscover it –
urgently!

What do we make of all this?
Every now and then there are major
shifts in Christian thinking, as we wake
up to biblical truths that our culture has
prevented us from seeing.
Two hundred years ago Christians like
William Wilberforce changed the way
people thought about the slave trade.
I believe we are at one of those
moments today.

Photo by Sarah Wilcox

It’s as if we’re removing a pair of tinted
glasses that have coloured our whole view
of life.
We’ve been so immersed in our urban,
industrial, consumer culture that we’ve
failed to notice the Bible’s plain message on
creation and our place within it.
Environmental degradation is simply the
most obvious symptom of a much deeper
sickness.
The crux of it is this: as human beings
we’ve got our relationship with the planet
all wrong.
It’s not just that populations are growing
and energy-hungry lifestyles increasing. We
are living in a way that just can’t continue.
We won’t solve this problem by better
technology and a few hard political choices.
It goes deeper than that, right to the heart
of who we are. We need to rethink who on
earth we think we are as human beings.
If we embrace a kind of Christian ecospirituality with a vision to save the created
order, it will demand real sacrifice and a
very different way of life.

So, where are you at now?
Which of the four ways looks like the way
you relate your faith to care of creation?
Are you satisfied with “where you are at”?
If not, what steps could you take to get
to where you’d rather be – bearing in mind
that a changed heart usually comes before
a changed life?
Phillip Donnell is the EnviroChurches Facilitator
for A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand and teaches for
Bishopdale College in Tauranga.
pjdonnell@orcon.net.nz

Page 39

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

CHILDREN

Julie Hintz takes a fresh look at how we can make room
for children’s spirituality

Saving a space
Look and listen beyond
what’s being said...

Page 40

for God

Anglican Taonga

C

lose your eyes for a
moment and think how
you would describe
spirituality.
Did you use words,
pictures or even feelings? Were you
reminded of an experience you had,
or did you sense an emotion?
Spirituality can be a bit slippery to grasp,
but however we define it, we know that
nurturing a child’s spirituality is important.
It’s a privilege and responsibility that we,
as parents, grandparents, caregivers and
ministry leaders have been given.
Serious research has been done to show
there’s more going on spiritually in a child’s
early years than we might think. God has
special ways of being with children, and
children have special ways of being with
God.
Unlike learning and knowledge, a child’s
spirituality isn’t something that she needs to
grow into.
On the contrary, we can trust that
spirituality is innate in each one of us.
But with that in mind, we adults can still
do a lot to help the spiritual awakening
of our children. We can provide them
with opportunities to experience joy,
expectation, connectedness to others and
to God, gratitude, wonder, love and praise.
Children often see the beauty in
everyday objects and actions. They possess
an amazing sense of awe and wonder.
One night years ago, our family decided
to have a late night star-gazing session.
Lying on our trampoline looking up at
the starry sky, my 5 year-old said to me,
“Those stars are sparkly like my insides
when I’m happy!” Others started sharing
– love, excitement, our great God who
made the sky so beautiful, the “big-ness” of
everything.
They led me on a journey that night.
As adults we’re often looking to preserve
our identity as children of God. We can start
to relearn that by being around, and tuned
into, children.
Children are expectant, eager to love
and to learn, things that many adults try to
recapture at some point along their faith
journey. In fact, when asked to describe
a spiritual experience, many adults refer
back to something from their childhood.
When we share those memories, we have
the language to describe our experience.
But as we look at a child’s spirituality, their
special way of being with God, it’s good
to remember that often a child won’t have
developed the verbal capacity to explain
what they’re sensing and feeling.
So, as we journey alongside our
children, it’s helpful to look and listen

beyond what is being said. We need to
keep in mind a child’s potential difficulty
with putting things into words, even though
God’s presence in their life may make
perfect sense to them.
Each child is unique. Each will have
a different way of expressing spirituality.
When we spend time with a child, we can
be open to her individuality.
What games does he like to play? What
are her favourite toys? Are there particular
things that he likes to draw, and what
colours does he use?
What does she say to her animals, toys
or imaginary friends when she thinks no
one is listening?
What does he like to talk about in small
groups?
These moments when a child is being
authentically who they are, can give us
precious insights into their spiritual life.
Because spirituality is innate and
starts with God, it doesn’t require input
or teaching from adults for a child to be
aware of the sacred quality of everyday
life. Receiving religious instruction is not a
prerequisite for spiritual life.
Consider the wonderful reflection below,
written by a 10 year-old boy:
“Waves patter as I sit there and relax.
When I look around I see birds flying free
in the sky and rocks seem to be talking
to each other in a kind way. Although
people talk to me I take no notice. I am too
involved in watching and listening to the
earth speak.
After listening to the earth I try to listen
to my friends, but all I can hear is nature
calling me to listen.”
While children’s special relationship
with God doesn’t need us, there are ways
to nurture and encourage children’s
spirituality.
Here are just a few ideas for parents,
caregivers and children’s ministry leaders.

Play with your children
Often moments of incredible spiritual
depth will emerge as children engage in
imaginative play without restrictions or
expectations. Watch and learn!

Honour children’s need
for quiet time
In today’s world we often over-schedule.
Children need time just to be, to play,
create, draw and think.

Beautiful spaces and materials
Provide a beautiful welcoming space
for reflection and creative play that

EASTERTIDE 2013

communicates value and respect for the
work of spiritual development. The corner
of a storage area, a dark basement, broken
toys and crayons do not let children know
that their journey is important and valued.
Make a space for quiet and creating at
home too. Encourage everyone to use it.

Share personal stories of faith
Storytelling from your own faith journey
is a powerful tool, not just to pass on
information, but to inspire, excite and bring
joy to others.
Allow time for children to share their
stories too. If a child is having a hard time
communicating, you can suggest they draw
a picture, sing, dance, build something with
blocks or Lego, or anything that will open
up opportunities for sharing.

Joining in
Fully involve children in faith community
and family life to help them see they’re part
of something bigger than themselves. Give
them opportunities to watch and learn, as
you praise and worship God alongside
them.

Length and timing of worship
As children worship with you, consider
their physical needs and attention spans.
Children who are tired and hungry don’t
easily engage with us or with God.

Colourful images
Children are used to a colourful,
multimedia world. Pictures, objects and
Powerpoints are all helpful in making
connections.

Switch your expectations
For many of us, the benchmark of time
with children, whether our own or other
people’s, is, “What have they learnt from
me? What have I taught them?”
But one of the easiest ways to know if
we’re tuned into our children’s spirituality is
to ask ourselves, “What have I learnt from
being with them?”
What have I received through this
encounter?” Given time, space and respect,
children can show us much of their inner
lives, in relation with God and others.
Sometimes we just need to be still, listen,
watch, open our hearts and learn.
Ms Julie Hintz is the StrandZ Children’s Ministry
Enabler for the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New
Zealand & Polynesia.
julie@strandz.org.nz
Page 41

hances are if we belong to a
church where most things are
going well, then we belong to
a church with great leadership. Quality
leadership is not a sufficient condition for
happy church life, but it is a necessary
condition.
Show me an unhappy church and I will
show you the poverty of its leadership.
Sourcing and resourcing great leaders
is vital for viable churches.
New Testament Christians knew that.
We should know that too.
Sometimes we do not look as though
we do know that. As Anglicans, we discern
for ‘pastoral’ capabilities in our future
priests, but when we appoint vicars,
we want ‘leadership’ capabilities. Only
priests can be vicars, so we always have
a surplus of pastors and a shortfall of
leaders when choosing our vicars.
However, great leadership in happy
parishes is not just about the vicar, but

about the quality of leaders across parish
ministries.
How can we raise the standard,
enhance the quality and broaden the base
for excellent leadership in our churches?
An affirmative answer must involve the
provision of training. To an extent, leaders
are born. You know the ones, the ‘natural
leaders’ who always get selected as team
captain or head prefect without ever going
on a leadership course.
But leaders are also made.
Being forced to lead when no one else
will take the responsibility, many have found
that they are leaders when they thought they
were not.
Most of us, in fact, have to lead some
group in the course of our lives, for instance,
the family we find ourselves in charge of as
Mum or Dad! If leaders are made, does it
have to be via the School of Hard Knocks or
the University of Trial and Error?
The answer is ‘No.’
Plenty of wisdom abounds from the past.
But where do we find that wisdom
in a neat bundle, readily unpacked in a
systematic manner, through a method
of teaching that doesn’t rely on the latest
technological bells and whistles?
Called to Lead: An Emerging Leaders
Curriculum by Stu Crossan, Vicar of St

Matthew’s, Dunedin is an answer to that
question. Through 24 sessions, spread across
six themes (God’s Revelation, Character
Formation, Leadership Formation, Spiritual
Formation, Practical Church Ministry,
Leading in Life) the material presented here
is excellent.
Moreover these are not lessons
hammered out in the author’s mind as an
abstract concept of what might be useful
in training emerging leaders. Rather, the
material here has been taught, refined, and
taught again through a number of years.
In this attractive publication we have the
mature form of a successful training course.
All that remains is for it to spread through
the churches!
Rev Dr Peter Carrell is Director of Education in the
Diocese of Christchurch and Director of Theology
House, Christchurch.
director@theologyhouse.ac.nz

“At Christ’s College they want you
to carry on with things you’re good
at and try other things as well.”
To learn more, please contact our Registrar on (03) 364 6836
or visit www.christscollege.com

Page 42

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

BOOKS

An epic in the making
CREATING A NEW ZEALAND
PRAYER BOOK:
A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE OF
A 25 YEAR ODYSSEY 1964-89
BY BRIAN CARRELL
THEOLOGY HOUSE, 2013. $25 + P & P
www.theologyhouse.ac.nz
HELEN JACOBI

W

hen we Pacific
Anglicans travel, we
often hear praise for
A New Zealand Prayer Book / He
Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. Often
from clergy and laity who use it for
leading worship across the world.
Now the Rt Rev Brian Carrell has
provided us with an answer to the
often-posed question:
“How did your church come up
with such a wonderful book?”
The answer: an extraordinary
group of people worked very,
very hard for 25 years. That’s the
story you’ll find in Brian Carrell’s
new book, Creating A New
Zealand Prayer Book: A Personal
Reminiscence of a 25 Year Odyssey
1964-89 .
When the Prayer Book
Commission began, he explains,
the church was male-led, assumed
that most people went to church,
still held to an English heritage and

used typewriters.
By the time they’d finished,
the world and the church were
radically different; women were
serving as ministry leaders, we
were approaching our three-tikanga
constitution and by the very end of
their work, word processors were
in use.
Bishop Brian takes us on a
journey with the people, their
personalities and their theologies.
He shows us how as a group they
worked together, listened, argued,
and then consulted in numerous
ways with the wider church,
drawing on many diocesan groups
for drafting of sections.
It seems an absolute miracle that
they made it to the end of the task.
Brian shares the background to
some of his own work, including
his moving account of writing the
“Alternative Great Thanksgiving
– Celebrating the Grace of God”
(P436). We learn that many
people’s favourite prayer, “Lord
it is night” (p184) was rescued
from the wastepaper basket. And
we are reminded of the storm of
controversy around the choice of
language for the Psalms.
This book will be a wonderful
tool for students of liturgy, but it is
a book that should be much more

widely read. In an easy and
engaging style, and it tells
the formation story of one
of the most precious taonga
this Church has: our common
worship.
Few things matter to
us more as Anglicans, and
so we will benefit from
understanding more about our
Prayer Book and how it came
to be. For those who have
never held a Prayer Book in
their hands in worship, it might

encourage them to go back
to the book and drink deeply
from its waters. And for those
who are ready for a revision
of the Prayer Book, they will
know the enormity of the task
ahead.
Rev Dr Helen Jacobi has recently
completed her ministry as Dean of
Waiapu Cathedral in Napier and
is currently a scholar in residence
at Virginia Theological Seminary,
Alexandria, USA.
helen@jacobi.co.nz

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n his foreword to Dr Allan Davidson’s
2011 collection of scholarly essays ‘A
Controversial Churchman’ Sir Paul Reeves
proposes that “Selwyn was a great man.”
Going by the essays in this book, Bishop
George Augustus Selwyn was a far greater
man than was ever attributed to him in his day.
A leader of great vision and energy,
Selwyn possessed mental, emotional,
physical and spiritual toughness.
And wherever he went in the course of
his extensive travels in New Zealand and
abroad, controversy seemed to follow him.
Some of these eleven essays build on the
well-known Selwyn era, but also bring to
light Selwyn’s ministry outside NZ and Sarah
Selwyn’s contribution.
The new section on Australian, North
American and English periods I found
most interesting.
Bruce Kaye surprises us with the high
regard Selwyn was held in by bishops
in Australia. Bishop of Australia, William
Broughton, (to whom Selwyn was suffragan)
said that in Selwyn, he’d had
‘…the long-looked for gratification
of meeting someone whose character,
principles, and self-devotion to the best
interests of the Church and of the human race
firstly endear him to all good men.’
The Australian experience is significant
for us, as it shaped Selwyn’s thinking towards
the pastoral letter of 1852, in which he
proposed a constitution for the Anglican
Church in New Zealand.
We discover he was the first Lambethappointed Corresponding Secretary for
the Bishops of the Anglican Communion
and travelled North America as a roving
episcopal diplomat between British and
American churches.
Ken Booth explains that while Selwyn
found a lack of openness to new ideas on his
Page 44

return to England, he managed to translate his
NZ synodical experience into that context.
Often, with a collection like this, you
approach the book expecting a mixed bag.
Not so here.
Each essay keeps pace with the next.
Dr Janet Crawford devotes her research
to Sarah Selwyn. She recalls a speech
made in 1868 at a farewell given by Maori
in the Bay of Islands, where an orator
acknowledged both Selwyns,
"Sire, the Bishop.
Salutations to you and to mother!
We, the people of this place to which you
first came, still retain our affection for you both."
The high regard Sarah was held in by
Maori, shows in the affectionate words used to
name her as – 'Mata Pihopa' (Mother Bishop).
As well as showing Selwyn’s response
to this south-Pacific context and his early
formation, we gain insights into his influence
on the colonial government.
Rowan Strong explores the expectations
placed on Selwyn by his social position, to
act as an ‘instrument’ of political networks in
his part of the British Empire.
Selwyn was loved and despised by many.
The personal cost for his fearless defence
of Maori rights was to be denounced
‘a turbulent priest’ by the British Parliament.
For that stand alone, he should have been
a hero to Maori.
William Williams criticised Selwyn, saying
his ‘passion appears to be the love of power;’
and portrayed him as a ‘stubborn’ man.
On one occasion Pakeha settlers in New
Plymouth named him a ‘meddler and a
traitor’ for siding with Taranaki Maori who
opposed land sales. Some regarded those
actions as bordering on treason.
However, he was joined in his stance
by Sir William Martin and the Rev’d (later
bishop) Octavius Hadfield, all motivated by
deep religious convictions.
Early on Selwyn threw his support behind
the Kingitanga and was seen as a champion
of Maori in the Waikato.
That was short-lived however, when he
became chaplain to the British troops that
invaded the Waikato lands.
With possibly the best of intentions,
he was politically naive in his attempt to
accommodate both sides at the same time.

Jonathan Mane-Wheoki deals with Selwyn’s
devotion to good church architecture. His
commitment ‘to lay the corner-stone of the
church of Christ’ in the ’most distant of the
islands of the sea,’ was almost as important to
Selwyn as proclaiming the Gospel itself.
I know a number of treaty-hardened Maori
who would read Waitangi Tribunal member
Grant Phillipson’s essay1 with great interest.
Treaty history from 1840 onwards recounts
a significant role for the Anglican Church. As
members, we are often called to account for
our Church, which is not shown in a good light.
Yet the record books also speak of men like
Henry Williams and George Selwyn who did
their best to uphold the principles of justice
and fairness entrenched in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
These men are referred to often – by Crown
and claimants alike, but while that information is
absolutely reliable, it isn’t always accepted.
One example is the Taranaki claim
where the Tribunal acknowledged Martin,
Selwyn and Hadfield in a positive light, as
“Pakeha who advocated for Maori.”
Judith Bright’s essay shows another side
of Selwyn as ‘an eloquent and prolific letter
writer.’ Missionary societies and NZ governors
often appear, but it’s the personal letters to
Selwyn’s wife Sarah, telling of his devotion to
her, that speak volumes.
This book is a valuable scholarly
reassessment of both George Selwyn and
Sarah’s contributions.
It provides us not only with new information
about their extraordinary lives, but a fairer and
more accurate retelling of our own story.
This helpful and timely book is a must for
anyone who is serious about our early history
as a nation and as a church.
Rt Rev Te Kitohi Pikaahu is
Te Pihopa o te Tai Tokerau (Bishop of Tai Tokerau)
tkwp@xtra.co.nz
1. Grant Philipson’s research focuses on references to
Bishop Selwyn in Treaty-related reports both to and from
the Waitangi Tribunal.

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

Two peoples: one Gospel

O

ne of the neat things about
the New Zealand story is that
it began, not with a conquest
or invasion – but with an
invitation from Ruatara, the Ngapuhi chief,
to his friend Samuel Marsden, the CMS
Missionary.
Their trust culminated in Marsden
preaching that famous 1814 Christmas
Day sermon – Behold, I bring you glad
tidings of great joy – just above Oihi
beach in the Bay of Islands, beneath the
sheltering gaze of Rangihoua Pa.
Now. Fast forward 199 years, and
check out the two gentlemen in the photo,
exchanging the hongi.
There’s trust there, and history, too.
Because on the left, we have John King,
who is the chair of the Marsden Cross
Trust Board.
John’s great-great grandfather,
and namesake, John King, was a CMS
missionary who, with Marsden, had
befriended Ruatara.
John King set foot on Oihi Beach the
same day as Samuel Marsden. But unlike

Marsden, he brought his wife and children
out to the new land.
Hugh Rihari’s Ngati Torehina whanau,
meanwhile, are the people of Oihi, and
they are closely related to Ruatara.
On January 23 this year – which is when
this shot was taken – about 75 folk gathered
on the ridge high above Oihi beach to
watch Hugh and John turn the first sod of a
heritage project which will be completed

by December 25, 2014 – 200 years on from
that Christmas morning sermon.
The next issue of Taonga will carry a
feature outlining what’s planned, tell some
of the remarkable stories of what took
place in 1814, and how those threads are
being woven together again now.

– Lloyd Ashton

Committed to the Anglican
Faith for almost 160 years
COME AND SEE US AT OUR OPEN DAY
SATURDAY 25 MAY FROM 9am–1.30pm
SLEEPOVER (FOR PROSPECTIVE BOARDERS ONLY)
SATURDAY 25 MAY FROM 4pm
Contact Alan Richardson, Director of Admissions on (06) 349 0295,
or email alan.richardson@collegiate.school.nz
www.collegiate.school.nz

Wanganui Collegiate School
Years 9 to 13, Anglican, Co-Educational Boarding and Day School

Page 45

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

FILM

Right on
the ball
John Bluck finds himself won over by some
less-than-appealing characters in Silver
Linings Playbook, a new film directed by
David Russell.

I

f you’re able to skim the
sweet caramel coating off this
Hollywood feel goodie, some
rewarding viewing awaits.
Already established on the
10 best films of the year list, with
several Oscar nominations, Silver
Linings Playbook explores the
territory of mental illness and
family dysfunction.
It’s extraordinary that
the cinema has taken to the
dysfunctional family as a subject
for entertainment and profit,
but in this film there is more
going on.
And in the same way that
media campaigns by IHC, the
Mental Health Foundation and
brave advocates like John Kirwan
help us talk about mental illness
less ignorantly and fearfully, this
movie helps normalise a long
taboo subject.
The hero Pat (Bradley
Cooper) suffers from a bipolar
disorder. But it’s a minor problem
compared to the obsession with
American football that haunts his
father (Robert De Niro).
Dad’s violent love affair

You save marriages,
careers and football
seasons by thinking
positively and
doubling your bet.

Page 46

with his home team The
Philadelphia Eagles
uncomfortably echoes
Kiwi rugby mania.
The reference to
Playbook in the film title is
a football term. It highlights
the same sort of crazy dreaming
about game plans that afflicted
New Zealand during the Rugby
World Cup. There’s a movie
waiting to be made here
that would show rugby as a
collective mental disorder.
Disorder it may be, but
it’s still a primary channel
for expressing affection and
passion.
De Niro is desperate to
connect with his son, fresh
home from psychiatric hospital,
but the only language he has, is
a football playbook, and son Pat
doesn’t care much for that sort
of conversation.
Nor is he interested in Dad’s
mania for sport betting, which is
so crazy, it makes our Lotto, TAB
and pokie addictions look like
harmless fun.
This is a family defined
by wish-fulfillment fantasies
of silver linings. You save
marriages, careers and football
seasons by thinking positively
and doubling your bet.
Instead Pat lets himself fall
in love with Tiffany (Jennifer
Lawrence) who’s had her own
share of mental instability.
Their conversations about
the mind bending drugs they’ve
had to take to be normal is as
horrifying as it is hilarious.
Together they dance
their way into a redemptive
relationship.
It’s a serious film, but it’s

also hilarious. Practically
everybody is a bit wobbly
in psychiatric terms, but
director David Russell
helps us laugh with, not
at, the various obsessions
and excesses.
To achieve that
requires a high degree
of skill. He’s able
to observe weird
behaviour, represent
it truthfully without a
hint of being patronising; to stay with
characters who are not loveable and
attractive, and persist with them until
their well-buried humanity is allowed to
surface and speak for itself.
He has the courage to confront and
contain violent behaviour and work out
better ways of coping.
And he’s prepared to believe that
even in the midst of personal chaos,
people can still learn to trust and love.
That’s what this director does, in a
way that is always compassionate. You
don’t expect to see pastoral skills at work
in a popular Hollywood movie.
If we could handle
troubled people as well
as this film does, and
dare to find something
to laugh about as we try,
the church would be a
happier place.
And a lot funnier.
Bishop John Bluck is Acting
Dean of Waiapu Cathedral,
Napier.
bluck@vodafone.co.nz

Anglican Taonga

EASTERTIDE 2013

F R O M T H E FA R S I D E

Imogen de la Bere on billboards, books
and the holy power of coincidence.

A chance encounter in Staines

T

he other day I was hastening
through the dead centre of the
city called Staines upon Thames.
It’s a desolate space, filled with
pound shops, teenage girls made up like
mannequins, and old white men staring
fixedly into the middle distance, their fingers
curled around a solitary pint.
The cultural highlight of Staines-uponThames is the statue commemorating the
men from the lino works whose odours used
to characterise the town.
Nowadays its only claim to distinction,
besides the pretentious new name, are the
seedily grand, nouveau riche houses that
sashay down to the plastic-bag strewn river
bank, where crouches the obligatory motor
boat, now a dingy shadow of its former self.
I was hastening because I work in Staines,
and, frankly, reader, I hate it.
But a billboard caught my eye, which
read: “Coincidence is when God chooses to
remain anonymous.”
This cheered me up for the rest of the
day, reminding me of the wonderful poem
by the Australian Les Murray, called the

Chimes of Neverwhere – “the neither state of
Neverwhere” - the place where dwell all the
terrible things that never happened, because
Grace prevented them.
“ There … half the work of sainthood are
the enslavements, tortures, rapes, despair
deflected by them from the actual…”
Good things that happen and bad things
that don’t happen because the grace of God
silently makes it so.
Of course, the billboard was quite naughty
really, because it was a misquote of Einstein’s
dictum “Coincidence is God's way of
remaining anonymous”, which may or may
not have been meant tongue-in-cheek.
Then later that day, by sheer coincidence I came across a quirkier, more
cynical version in a Dorothy Sayers novel:
“Coincidences usually have the air of being
practical jokes on the part of Providence”.
What a coincidence.
Now I am quite sure the Divine Mind did
not put those two sentences under my nose
deliberately so that I would write this article.
Or am I…
What the quotations, and their

coincidence, suggest to me is the constant
operation of grace; that all around us, all the
time, the divine intelligence and ineffable
love that underpins the universe – the thing
we call grace – is at work.
Like all the invisible energies that race
through the air around us, filling out ears
with sounds from unseen sources, and our
phones with information from unseen stores,
God’s grace is busy doing stuff that we can’t
see or understand. Sometimes we stop and
watch and wait, and notice something has
happened. Some prayer has been answered
– never how we expected or imagined – but
answered. Something good has happened; a
divine joke has been perpetrated; some evil
has been averted. It’s rarely flashy.
The riverbank is cleared of plastic bags,
the widow finds a new friend, the homeless
man is offered a room.
But mostly we are too busy hastening
to notice.
Imogen de la Bere is a kiwi writer living in St Albans,
England.
delberi@googlemail.com

Page 47

What is the secret
to ageing well?

Selwyn Village resident, Valerie McMurtry, in
her two-bedroom apartment at Point Chevalier

At The Selwyn Foundation, we believe the secret to ageing well is simple. It’s about being independent, staying healthy and
living a meaningful life as part of a caring, supportive community. It’s something we apply to everything we do – whether in our
retirement villages, rest homes, hospitals or day centres.
It’s why we offer a range of modern independent retirement living options with an array of amenities, and why our awardwinning ‘At Home at Selwyn’ approach to care has received national acclaim. It’s the reason we provide care and support
within local neighbourhoods through our ‘Selwyn Centres’ charitable outreach programme, and why we promote research in
gerontology to develop the future of aged care services in New Zealand.
At Selwyn, our aim is to enrich older people’s daily lives so they can age well – wherever they’re
at home. It’s a philosophy we’ve practised for almost 60 years.
To find out more about our mission to help people age well, call us now on 0800 4 SELWYN
(0800 473 599), email mail@selwyncare.org.nz or visit our website: www.selwyncare.org.nz
One of New Zealand’s largest, not-for-profit providers of services to the over 65s, The Selwyn Foundation has been serving older people with integrity
and respect for almost sixty years. An independent charitable trust with Christian values, it provides residential care, independent retirement living and
community services, and owns or manages a total of nine retirement sites across the upper North Island.